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BLUE LIGHTS. 



OR 



THE CONVENTION 



BLUE LIGHTS, 



OR 



THE CONVENTION. 



A POEM, 

IN FOUR CANTOS. 



BY JONATHAN M. SCOTT, ESQ. 



<' These things indeed they have articulated, 
Proclaim'd at market crosses, read in churches, 
To face the garment of Rebellion 
With some fine color that may please the eye." 



NEW- YORK : 

Printed and Published by Charles N. Baldwin, Book- 
^ller, Chatham, corner of Chamber-street.' 



1817. 



C,3 



•"ii 



Southern District ofJWiv-York, ss. 

Be it remembered, that on the twenty-sixth 

day of October, in tlie forty-first }'ear of the 

Independence of the United States of America, 

(L.S.) Charles'N. Baldwin, of the said district, hath 

deposited in this office the title of a book the 

right whereof he claims as proprietor, in the 

words following, to wit .- 

" Blue Lights, or the Convention, a Poem, in four 

Cantos. By Jonathan M. Scott, Esq. 

" These things indeed they have articulated, 
Proclaimed at market crosses, read in churches, 
To face the garment of rebellion 
With some fine color that may please the eye." 
In conformity to the Act of the Congress of the 
United States, entitled, " An Act for the Encourage- 
ment of Learning, by securing the copies of Maps, 
Charts, and Books, to the authors and proprietors of 
such copies, during the time tlierein mentioned." 
And also to an Act entitled " An Act, Supplementary 
to an Act, entitled ' An Act for the Encouragement of 
Learning, by securing the copies of Maps, Charts, 
and Books, to the authors and proprietors of such 
copies, during the times therein mentioned,' and 
extending the benefits thereof to the arts of design- 
ing, engraving, and etching historical and other 
prints." THERON RUDD, 

Clerk of the Southern District q/\N'eiv-York. 



>K, 



^ CONTENTS. 




^:y 




Preface, - . . _ - . 


■ - 5 


Canto I. The Complaint, 


' - 15 


II. The Caucus, - - 


- -37 


III. The Message, 


- 59 


IV. The Lament, - - 


- 79 


Notes to Canto I. - - - 


- 95 


Canto II. - - 


- 109 


Canto III. . - 


- 127 


Canto IVe . - 


- 141 



PREFACE. 



THE author of the following pages wrote for his 
6wn amusement, and publishes for the amusement of 
others. In the first object he has partially succeeded, 
and if he fails in the second, he entreats his readers 
to attribute his failure to the barrenness of his subject; 
to the necessary shifting of the plan, according as 
events unexpected have occurred ; to the war, to the 
peace, to his own poverty, as compelling him to write 
with all possible expedition ; to any thing rather than 
inability or a want of inclination. The former of these 
last mentioned reasons, he absolutely denies, and 
considers as a sufficient cause for his so doing, the fact 
of his being so fortunate as to have been born in the 
commonwealth of Connecticut ; and from the latter 
objection, he has a more cogent reason, viz. the wish 
of money rather than celebrity; and here he trusts 
that every brother of the quill, from his own expe- 
rience, will be open to conviction, 



VI PREFACE. 

For some things in this book which might be coj/ 
sidered as defects, the writer must plead precedent 
in excuse; for if it is defective in plot, ungrammatical 
in language, or improbable in incident, his celebrated 
namesake, so universally admired, is guilty of the same 
faults. He is conscious also that the late date of his 
subject is far from being'a recommendation. The dark 
tint of time which giv es to a copper coin, worth by 
weight three-pence-halfpemiy, an inestimable value, 
is also necessary to give value to a poem. Like fresh 
venison, it is of little price : but after lying in the garret 
till green with age, it excites the warmest approbation 
of the connoisseur. 

'■^J^''ono prematur in anno " might be a good rule 
for the Augustan age, where the fruits of patronage 
were anticipated, and private liberality superseded the 
necessity of public opinion ; but, if such a maxim 
were to be followed in modern days, an author would 
starve before he saw a single proof sheet, the indus- 
trious hawkers of ballads would Be left without em- 
ployment, and the attic stories of Grub-street would 
remam untenanted. Yet notwithstanding these im- 
portant and weighty considerations, the principle 
abovementioned seems strongly fixed in the mind; 
^ged men receive reverence ; even the American 



PREFACE. Vll 

scholar looks to " the old countries " as the seals of 
science ; it is to the ruins of Palmj^ra and the rocks 
of Tyre, that the traveller flies with dclig-ht. The 
pliilosophers of Europe have decided that America is 
too young a country to deserve notice, and should other 
proofs be waiiting to establish the assertion, be it known 
that the Prince Regent of our mother countrj , who is 
by birth and ex-oiiicio,a prime judge in matters of taste 
is a passionate admirer, alike of old brandy and el- 
derly women. 

A difficulty has attended the author in all his wri- 
fings; a diiEculty which he confesses l^imself unable 
to surmount; and to which is owing a want of what 
should always constitute one of the chief excellencies 
of a poem of tliis kind. We mean the introduction 
of local scenery ; for the patronimics of our country 
are so wofully unpoetic, so miserably defective in 
metrical cadence, that the art poetic may do its utmost 
without being able to twist them into any thing like 
harmony. Who, for instance, could force into any 
thing like tolerable verse, the names of Akefenokoe, 
Memphremagog, Michilimakinak, &c. names which 
absolutely put out of joint the soporific prose of the 
geographer, and at every syllable remind us of the 
Aequetoticum of Horace, "giioc^ versu dicere non est.^'' 



Wli PREPACE. 

This is the reason why the author falls so far short oi 
his great prototype, namesake and relative, in that 
particular. The name of an obscure rivulet, or petty- 
village, provided it has a tolerable poetic termination, 
add much to the general interest of a poem, as affording 
to those unacquainted with them, an opportunity of 
hunting the Gazeteer, and thereby gratifying the thirst 
for knowledge, so natural to the mind; and those who 
dwell on the banks of the one, or tenant the huts of 
the other, are delighted at having thek- domains no- 
ticed in the literary world. Another objection will, 
no doubt, be advanced against the work, viz. that 
many of the opinions, suppositions, &c. are the offspring 
of prejudice, and that many of the narrations advanced 
as facts are utterly improbable. To the first objection 
he conceives that no answer is necessary, having in 
common with every body else the privilege of thinking 
as he pleases ; to the second, he refers for the ti-uth of 
facts, particularly those mentioned in the notes to the 
Geography of Dr. Morse, and the records of the 
colony of New-Haven. Even if he should bounce a 
little, the fashion of the day fully justifies him; for 
surely they who can commeud and read with delight, 
an accoimt of a Scottish girl becoming miraculously 
pregnant merely by having a quantity of ashes* blown 

* Vide Ludy of the Lake, 



PREFACE. iX 

tinder ker petticoats by a puff of wind, may surely 
pass without censure the- peccadillos committed in 
this book; and furthermore, we remember that the 
Rlantuan bard himself was occasionally fond of a hoax, 
and has left us in his ^nead a cock and a bull story Of 
certain mares becoming with foal by the wind. 

The author acknowledges that it is "with fear anS 
trembling" he lays his offering on the altar of criti- 
cism. Shrinking alike from the liberality of an English, 
and the classic taste of a Scotch reviewer, the fear of 
condemnation would hare suppressed the work, had 
it not luckily occurred to him, that in all human pro- 
babihty, these gentlemen will never know any thing of 
its existence ; or if they should, it is almost an even 
chance that it may fall into their hands after a good 
dinner, after hearing their own works applauded, or 
receiving a shake of the hand from some. New-I\Iarket 
nobleman ', equally a patron of horses and' men, and 
alike qualilied to decide on matters of taste, and the 
mysteries of the turf. But this is chance : a more terri- 
ble tribunal awaits him. Born a New-Englander, he 
I well knovvs the birth- right that every mother's son there 
I clatms and exercises in the fullest extent; from the 
Imelancholic student of Yale, the Jesuit child of Ther 
[olo!2ry and Chemistrv, to the huck'Ster ciiric- s&. often 
B 



it PREFACE, 

called from the fairest regions of poetic vision, to the 
sugar cask and the steelyards. Indeed, however ap- 
palling this circumstance may be to the writer, consi- 
dered merely as an author, he cannot refrain, as a man, 
from indulging a degree of provincial pride, so com- 
mon to his native state ; and somewhat analogous to 
the dignity of an ancient soldier, who cried out in the 
hour of punishment and shame, " / too am a Spartan.'*'' 
The fact is noloiious, that learning, the staple commo- 
dity of the state of Connecticut, is there so cheap, that 
a very tolerable schoolmaster may be hired for five 
dollars a month, with the privilege of i-eceiving his 
pay either in potatoes or corn, at his own option; 
and the neighboring inhabitants are so fond of his 
Company, that in order to accommodate them all, he 
generally shifts his quarters every Saturday night. 

It is equally a known fact, that as commerce has in 
PJew England fixt her grand mart, so wo have made 
an absolute monopoly of talent; at least, every body 
5o€S, or ought to think so ; for the leading characters 
4n Church and State have not only repeatedly asserted 
it, but the numbers that have passed the noviciate of 
Yale, been regularly bred ministers of the gospel, 
Attorneys and Physicians, and still remain unemployed 
^ their vocatioas, fully prove the fact aboveHientionec?, 



PREFACE. Xi 

Bui on this head, and indeed on some others, we are apt 
to wander from subjects that more immediately inter- 
est us. 

The want of a dedication is a subject of distress- 
ing- concern. The author is acquainted with no great 
man, who he tliinks could be induced publicly to 
countenance his work 5 although he assures his read- 
ers, that he has taken the most indefatigable pains to 
become personally intimate witli members of Congress, 
of the state Legislature, etc. but all to no purpose, for 
his utmost assiduity has not enabled him to become in- 
timate with any greater character than the deputy she* 
rift' of his native village. 

It is rarely that people read a book without feeling 
some desire to know also something of the writer of it. 
On this subject the author has little to say, except to 
inform his readers, that after having in the morning- of 
his life endured all the privations of the '■'■ res Angus- 
ice Dorai,'''' he is in his old age quietly fixed as a district 

teacher in the village of , where he takes his 

morning walk with the parson, his evening pipe with 
the deptitv sheriff, and on Saturdays, after dinner, re- 
hearses bis literary productions to his maiden sister, an 
elderly lady of excellent judgment. 



BLUE LIGHTS, 

OR 

THE CONVENTION. 

CANTO I.' 



BLUE LIGHTS, 



OR 



THE CONVENTION, 



CANTO I. 



THE COMPLAINT. 

LAND of the East, whose fertile vales unfold 

The fairest product of the fruitful year ; 
%'VTiose towering hills upon their summits hold 

A hardy race, to wildest freedom dear, 
Unawed by danger, unrestrained by fear : 

How are thy prospects chang'd ! the plough no more, 
Worn bright by labor, checks the panting steer 

Through reeking furrow toiling, as of yore, 
Nor clamorous seamen ply along the busy shore. 

Around some tavern door ihy children stand, 
Where swings the tratiiig' i-Jgn on windy day, 

Checrles-s and sad, a Pirlaiv.iioly band, 

'i'ill draughts of whiskey wile (heir cffres awsi v ; 



IS BLUE LIGHTS, 

Then loud of tongue, impetuous for affray, 
All raise at once of wisdom full the voice, 

And beardless valor, and experience gtay. 
In hideous uproar wild increase the noise, 

^Miile oft replenish'd cups exalt the noontide joyjsf-. 

Oh, stream lethean ! reeking- from the still, 

HoVf- sweet thy stimulus at early dawn ! 
When wakes the thirsty wretch, the welcome rj/l 

Dispels of recollection thoughts forlorn ; 
• For oft the aching head at rising morn, 

A sad memento of the evening past, 
From long protracted slumber slowly drawn. 

Toward the accustom'd cup a look will cast. 
And sigh, perhaps in vain, to think that cup the lafet 

I. 

WAR'S crimson banner broad unfarl'd 
Waves horrid o'er the western world ; 
Full swells the note of rolling drum, 
Like distant thunder, hoarse and grum. 
And sharp and shrill the piercing fife 
Wakes the stern soul to deeds of strife. 
The peaceful scythe its form forsakes, 
The bending cutlass' cun'e it takes ; 
Wrench'd from its shape by glowing heat, 
And on the groaning anvil beat ; 
The shining pitchfork strait is set, 
Transform'd to pointed bayonet, 
Disdainful of its former trade 
And proudly glitters on parade. 



OR THE CONVENTION, 17 



II. 



Each wayward youngster from the field 
In fancy u,rasps the victor shield, 
With beatin"^ heart he seeks the plain, - 
Intent on glory and on gain ; 
Before his eyes, in beam divine, 
The rising- hopes of plunder shine ; 
For plunder, trade aside is cast — 
The cooler leaves his aiouldy last; 
The homespun frock and beaver gray, 
Are chang'd to regimentals gay; 
The tailor's vrork is left undone, 
While 'prentice lads to combat run ; 
And o'er each lately smilinj^ brow 
Frowns pale and lund anger now. 

III. 

la there a heart so wild and rude, 
But sickens at commencing feud ? 
Then let that rugged heart sojoura 
Beyond Caifraria's utmost bourn ; 
Fitch with the Arab wild his (ent, 
0)- on some desart island, rent 
From the mainland bv torrent storm-^ 
His iunely i;abilation form. 
Alas ! those fields, which late so gay 
SJpread their broad surface to the day-^ 
Within the i.road potatoe patch 
In vain for food the children scratth ; 



B^ 



IS BLUE LIGHTS, 

No longer are the swine debarr'd 
From entrance to the turnip yard ; 
Thy fields, oh, Weathersfield ! of yore 
That many a pungent onion bore, (a) 
Now overgrown with noisome weeds, 
No longer savory garlick feeds ; 
There many a harvest lost, his purse, 
Pevoidof cash, the swain shall curse; 
And many a marriage long delay'd 
Rue the sad year when war was made. 

IV. 

Ah, me ! how many tears that day 
Shrunk from their crystal source away ! 
And many a damsel's cheek grew pale, 

And many a bosom heaved the sigh, 
And many a matron told the tale, 

The dismal tale, of battle nigh. 
Ah, me ! unfit for warlike deed, 
For cannon's roar, or charging steed ; 
111 suits the sabre's ruthless blade 
The hand accustom'd to the spade ; 
And nerves that wont to wield the hoe, 
Relax before the deadly blow. 
Land of my sires ! that spirits stern 
%yithin thy children's bosoms burn, 
Full well I know ; on muster day, 
When thoughts of war were far away, 
How oft the sun that cloudless rose, 
■ At are has wi.tness'd many a nosfe 



oR THE CONVENTION. 1^ 

With blood dcfil'd ; and many an eye 
The rainbow's varied tints defy. 
Though, cramp'd with age, my sluggish blood 
Rolls through my veins in languid flood, . 
Still swells with life renewed, the vein, 
As memory views the young campaign ; 
And many a scar upon my head 
Recals the day of battle fled. 



Yet in this youthful warrior-School, 
Stern Wisdom held her rigid rule ; 
Unlike the sons of southern shore, 
Who bathe their blades in foeman's gore , 
Whose boiling blood in realms of fire 
Deliglited sees his {oe expire ; 
And from the combat lifeless drops, 
Or limping homeward wounded hops. 
With us, the brawny fist supplied 
The pistol's place at battle tide ; 
By dint of lusty thump and kick, 
Or aid of massy walking stick ; 
By hand, and teeth, and stubborn foot, 
Was settled every dire dispute ; 
We wisely shunn'd the hissing ball, 
And knew life lost, was loss of all. 

VI. 

The brazen trump, in martial swell, 
Through fair Colmijbia's utmost bound 

Of commerce, rings the funeral yell, 
And crimson terror stalks around ; 



20 BLUE LIGHTS, 

In anger high, the \varior cry 

Rings from the regions of the west. 
And gathering force in rapid course, 

Rolls furious to the distant east. 
What raging hand, in transport fell, 

In madness slips the dogs of war ? 
Where points the storm its horrid swell? 

Who yokes Bellona's furious cai- ? 
Where southern lands in slavery lie, 
The scowling farmer casts his eye — 
There the rude sons of uproar breed. 
In wild misrule, the hideous deed ; 
Witli dark surmise and jealous hint, 
Towards England's schemes politic squint ; 
There fancy paints a thousand wrongs. 
And rumor wags her hundred tongues ; 
There rises stern rebellious wrath 
Against the '■^bulwark of ourfuiihy 
Of English pride and English gold 
Strange thing's are guessed, and stranger told ; 
Upon the broad Atlantic's tide 
Her right to plunder is denied ; 
Her thoughtful, kind, parental care 
In training up our youth to war, 
And giving them, in regal fleet, 
A chance the Sans Culottes to meet, 
In strife of death and mortal hour, 
Is deemed a wanton stretch of power ! 
Some trifling gifts to Indians made, 
Or swapt for sliios in way of trade ,, 



OR THE CONVENTION". 21 

Some few supei-fluous muskets, sent 
Ec} ond the lakes, in compliment — 
Create at once the dark surmise 
Of war preparing in disguise. 

VII. 

Yet we behold a different drift 
Contemplating the royal gift ; 
Around Tecumseh's growing power 
The ray? of royal bounty pour ; 
In norilicrn wilds, for valor known, 
The daring savage stands alone ; 
Where Avide his strong dominion spreads, 
A thousand warriors raise their sheds, 
A thousand knives his warriors wear, 
A thousand spears his followers bear. 
Woe to the luckless wandering wight 
On whom Tecumseh's heroes light ; 
With victor glee and hideous jelp, 
Torn from his skull, the quivering scalp) 
By thongs of bark securely bound, 
Within die hoop's extended round, 
Shines forth a trophy' fair and free, 
Proof of heroic chiv til ry; 
Whilst he, the wretch, if happy he 
Should 'scape their roasting revelry, 
Through all his future days must weac 
A pei riwig of foreign hair. 

VIII. 

Alike in cottage, or on throne, 

To minds, congenial minds aj'$ prone. 



;2 BLUE LIGHTS, 

The thief that takes his nightly round. 
In bonds of faith for safety bound, 
Yields to his comrade, snug by stealth, 
The portion due of plunder'd wealth ; 
And oft, the knowing farmers say, 

The weasel and the fox combine, 
And bent to seize tlie feather'd prey, 

The hen-roost jointly undermine. 
Thus felt the Regent's mighty mind 
Toward the wild chief, a friendship kind ; 
Rear'd in the wilds, by instinct taught, 
Nature's pure ray Tecumseh caught ; 
He, like the Regent proud, could drain 
'ilie morning draught of rich champaign ; 
At mid-day sun dissolv'd, his soul 
Could riot in the toddy bowl ; 
His dinner past, his thirst could quench 
Jn hottest sling's perspiring drench ; 
And, soldier-like, if brandy grew 
Too short, could make the whiskey do^ 

IX. 

Full many a year has past away, 

Since first the bard of Avon sung 
Of princely theft, on lonely way, 

And plunder from the traveller wrung". 
Oh, would some bard of later time 

Attempt the Regent's pilfering name ! 
More high should swell the song sublime, 

^lore bright should bloom his wreath of failiieo 



OR THE CONVENTION. 

\Miat wonder, then, if deepest awe 
The Regent seized, when first he saw 
The savage chief, boon nature's chilgj. 
Usurp the broad extended wild, 
As if in mirror he beheld 
His own great qualities reveal'd ; 
And, in fraternal fond embrace, 
Sought the darkcliiefof copper face. 

X. 

Hence, rising in his bright career, 
Tecumseh, now a brigadier, (6) 

•His warrior youth surpriz'd behold 
His epaulettes of burnish'd gold. 
The belt that binds his ample breast, 
The sword and brimstone:Colour'd vest, 
Bow to his word with due submission. 
In reverence to the king's commission 5 
And hope that future battle-field 
A like reward to them may yield. 
Some trifling services perform'd, 
Old Avoraen scalp'd, and houses storm'd, 
Some troops of children put to flight. 
And com-cribs sack'd at dead of night j 
A royal frigate shall transport 
The chieftain to Britannia's court ; 
There, high in favor with the crown. 
He long shall prop the tumbling throne j 
And every plant of royal seed 
Copy his look, and word, juad deed ; 



24 BLUE LIGHTS, 

Witli the wild chief in friendship boundj 

His regent brother shall be found 

Aping the sachem's winning ways, 

To draw the wondering rabble's gaze. 

Ev'n now, methinks, on staggering heel 

The brother bucks through London reel, 

Where many a window's broken pane 

Commemorates the night's campaign ; 

"VMiere many a coachman, bilk't, shall curse, 

With stifled oath, his empty purse ; 

And many a girl, dismiss'd unpaid. 

Rue her unprofitable trade, 

In Drury-laue unfed shall mourn 

Of night the supperless return ; 

And tell, as many a sister knows, 

Her prince forgets the debt he owes. 

XI. 

Alas ! 'tis only fancy's beam, 
'Tis all delusive fancy's dream ; 
Alas I that glory leads the brave 
Thro' honor's paths to timeless grave'; 
Had but the partial fates delay'd 
A few short years the rutiian's blade. 
Lamented chief! thy dear renowa 
To latest ages had g'one down, 
A pension had your highness fed, 
A royal virgin graced your bed ; 
Perhaps the match had given birth 
To some proud Kegeiit of the eartbj 



0R THE CONVENTION. 

Who in his person might combine 
Each virtue of his royal line ; 
To righteous England's rule of right 
The savage subtlety unite ; 
Beneath the cross of Christ ador'd 
In holy zeal might draw the sword ; 
Revive Queen Mary's golden day» 
And feast and murder, fast and pray 
Beneath the regal lion's paw, 
New countries might receive his law ; 
A nobler spoil should India yield, 
New taxes fertilise the field ; (c) 

And all beneath the solar raj 
Britannia's holy laws obey. 

XII. 

The lot of royally how hard ! 

What cruel chains her daughters bind ! 
From all connubial joy debarr'd. 

How are the regal race confin'd ! 
Endowed with every winning grace, 
The female shoots of royal race, 
When foreign courts can ill supply, 
A correspondent progeny. 
Are left devoid of hope benign, 
In " single blessedness " to pine 5 
And never know the genial joys 
Of buxom girls and lusty boys. 
Like the full rose, whose blushing dye 
i""oli.jits long the passer by. 



26 BLUE LIGHTS, 

Until, its short existence past, 
It shrinks away and wilts at last : 
Though lost its foi-m and vernal bloom, 
Retaining still its rich perfume. 
Ah ! luckless virgin I o'er thy fate 
The tears of pity drop too late ; 
That forni, in nature's bountj' drest, 
Thine arms connubial should have prest, 
In combat fierce, with hostile band, 
] las sunk beneath a ruffian's hand ; 
Relax'd his arm, and clos'd the eye 
Where lurk'd young love in ambush sly : 
Those feet that erst hke lightning tiew 
Wh.en stubborn foemen met the view. 
Now stifi' and cold as valley sod, 
Prest lifeless on the wintry clod ; 
Widi many a rude unseemly hack 
Disfigur'd is that brawny back ; 
Wiience many a shoe-string strong i? torn. 
And many a razor strap is born ! (d) 
Cn !j;itt!e plain, the mouldering bone 
A f vv short weeks sliall bleach unknown : 
The rotting sinev/s yield at last 
To hosts of vvoj-ms, a rich repast, 
Till chance some kindred spirit brings-. 
To bleak Moravia's wintry springs, 
Who, o'er the remnant of his bones, 
Sh.all raise the sacred mound of stone? : 
Ft iliaps shall hang some trophy there, 
Of Yankey vest, or Y^anlay hair. 



©R THE CONVENTION. 27 

Which, when his foeman lifeless laj"-, 
His victor prowess bore away. 
There shall he stop the rapid flight 
That bore him breathless from the fight ; 
And safe from foeman's furious stioke, 
Tin sainted shade in prayer invoke. 
There many an English wight shall dry 
The rising tear that dims the eye ; 
And, musing on th^y wajward fate. 
Commence deserter soon or late. 

XIII. 

Upon thy grave, lamented Pierce ! 

Thv mourning country drops the tear ; (^ 
Thy stone receives the votive verse, 

And sorrov/ing freemen crowd thy bier. 
Yet who thy justice shall araign, 
Queen of the ocean's wide domain ? 
Wiien righteous heaven bereaves of lif(^ 
A parent, sister, friend or wife, 
Submissive to the will of God, 
We bow beneath the chastening rod ; 
Though feeling's tears afflictive flow, 

And anguisli'd throbs the bosom swellj 
We bless the hand that strikes the blow 

And every murmuring doubt re])el ; 
Well pleas'd, tho' others fill die tomb, 
At distance to behold our doom. 
What tho', on ocean's storn\\ breast, 
Thy sons, Columbia, are imprest, 



25 BLUE LIGHTS^ 

Enough, in reason, still remain 
To shear thy flocks and reap thy grain ; 
And broader fields are left for those 
Who quietly at home repose. 
'Tis but a few, whose tempers rash 
Incur the stubborn boatswain's lash ; 
Some few whose democratic fire 
The knotted marline's stripes require. 
And, now and then, example meet 
From ship to ship, throughout the fleet, 
Beneath the gentle drummer's gripe, 
Receive the unrelenting stripe. 
Snug at our homes, we never know 
The gibing taunt, the dastard blow, 
The haughty scorn, the silent sneer, 
And frequent curse that wound their ear^. 
From tyi-anny like this secure, 
We little reck what they endure ; 
And well each eastern strii^ling raw 
Conceives that nature's primal law, 
In person and in purse secure. 
Is our own safety to ensure. 

XIV. 

Ah, me ! how many an horrid tale 
Of old tradition, yet remains, 

Of orphan woe, and widow's wail, 
Of Enghsh lust and English chains ; 

Witness the wave, whose roaring surge 

Has sung full many a geuinan'* dirge ; 



0R THE CONVENTION. 29 

Let the (lark Scorpion's hulk narrate 

The dismal tale of English hate ; 

Her horrid scenes let Jersey tell, 

And mark the shades v/here demons dwell ; {/) 

For there, in lingering;, slow decay, 

Sunk the last spark of life away ; 

There shrieks of pain, and dying groafi, 

Unheeded fell on ears of stone ; 

Mid damps and pestilential breath, 

Stalk'd the dire ministers of death ; 

Frequent the tainted wave recieved 

The wretch from pain and life relieved ; 

There should some sadd'ning groan invade 

The lonely watchman's midnight shade, 

That hollow moan, that mournful sound, 

Vv as quickly hush'd in sleep profound ; 

Such sleep as ne'er, when once begun, 

The heavy roar of morning gun 

Could the lorn wretch from trance awake» 

Complaint or sad lament to make. 

*Twas kindly done ; what ear could hear 

The piercing shriek, the sinking sob, 
Or see the silent trickling tear. 

Without a wish to end the job ? 
Although tlieir proud rebellious hate 
Had richly earn'd securer fate, 
Yet, royal mercy deem'd as well 
That poison might the faction quell. 
And opium yield as large a scope 
Fdr death, as dungeon, knife or rope; 



30 BLUE LIGHTS, 

Nor was the mag'nitude of cost 

In regal compui-ation lost, 

For rog-ues at home had numerous grownj 

And much expense it cost the crown 

To furnish hemp enough for tliose 

Who found at Tyburn death's repose. 

XV. 

When first the dire report of war 

Spread fear and terror from afar, 

W' hen town and village, hut and farm, 

In horror heard the first alarm. 

Our righteous chiefs, in pale affright, 

Condemn'd the parricidal fight ; 

Rcfus'd the galling tax to pay, 

Threw all their shot and guns away; 

On puritanic knees devout, 

Besought kind heaven to help them out ; 

And shunning aid of mortal might 

Put their sole trust in heaven and — Dwight'. 

XVI. 

Ye towers august of sacred Yale, (g-) 

WTiere science holds her choicest thronCj 

Where muses many a student pale. 
Whom superstition claims her own ! 

"WTiere in my native land 1 see 

The remnant sole of papacy ; 

'Tis to thy classic fanes we owe 

Most of the happiness we know ; 



OR THE CONVENTION. 31 



''rom thee, to crowd life's busy 

ssuos how many a beardless sage ! 

>kiird in the mazes of chicane, 

'Vith undigested learning vain ; 

iere the first swelling germs of lavr, 

n miniature, indictments draw, 

Jpon the yielding woolsack's hide, 

n dreams of future pomp preside ; 

deceive the brief, extort the fee, 

^nd practice rules of bribery ; 

^kplaJn old codes, and wisely shew 

The good efl'ects of statutes Blue ; (Ji) 

Beneath whose stern control, the swain 

flight never swear nor drink in vain ; 

iVhose rule the nuptial kiss restrains 

)n S'abbath day, in legal chains ; 

^nd should some youth in daring brunf, 

biswer with oath the dire affront, 

Cnrich'd by pettifogging toil, 

The parish battens on the spoil ; 

Vnd should the rash offender fail 

To pay ttie fine or find his bail, 

n cloven stick his tongue must rest, 

Till ev'ning shades embrown the west\ 

XVII. 

fes, in that dark and trying hour, 
\.uspicious Yale ! we felt thy power ; 
/Vere'er thy virtuous sons %vere fouudj 
Jpread tlie sad tale oS ruin rouad ; 



32 BLUE LIGHTS,. 

To bustling mob, and busy crowd 
Harrangu'd the village lawyer loud, 
In tears foretold the future tax 
On pork, and poultry, scythe, and axe ; 
And prov'd by demonstration plain. 
That Satan o'er us shook tlie rein. 
There too the patrons of the birch, 
And rev'rend fathers of the church, (i) 
Denounc'd their heaviest wrath on those 
Who leagu'd against the invading foes 
Instead of laws of christian faith 
Sung forth anathemas and wrath ; 
Exhorted each believer true 
The seeds of faction round to strew. 
And charg'd each honest rustic soul. 
From earth to rend that cursed pole, (k) 
- Around whose staff' the sons of France 
Combine in Jacobinic dance ; 
Against the rulers of the land 
To join with purse, and heart, and hand, 
And, without ceasing, night and day, 
Against democracy to pray. 

XVIII. 

Nor was that exhortation lost, 
From mouth to mouth the rumor tost, 
By fancy's powerful magic grew 
More black and dismal to tlie ^iew ; 
And sword and famine, theft and rape^ 
Scarce seem'd it possible to 'scape. 



OR THE CONVENTION. S3 

Then too 'twas said, from nether world, 
The hosts of hell upon us hurl'd, 
Again began their forms to rear, 
And sweep on broomsticks thro' the air ; 
Sucli brood as erst, at Salem nurst. 
Rose o'er our land in swarm accurst. 
With rusty nail and charnel bone, 
Ransack'd the scenes of worlds unknown -^ 
Snatch'd from the owner's view his sheep, 
And seal'd his swine in endless sleep ; 
And bade around the farmer's doorj 
The cackling brood appear no more. 

XIX. 

Yet still there lives, full well we know, 

Full manj' a wight whose doubting braiu 
Conceives that sent to feed the foe 

Those hantiless hogs and sheep were slaio. 
Alas I for such we deeply mourn, 

Their penance shall their crimes repay. 
We only pray they may return 

To truth, and seek the righteous way ; 
So through our native land again 
Religion shall resume her reign ; 
At Salem, future prophets rise 
A delegation from tlie skies, 
Convert each river, pond and ditch. 
To judgment-place for hamper'd witcli , 
Then, land belov'd ! above thy ground 
Tvo stubborn Quaker shall be foimc>, '/) 
C 



!4 BLUE LIGHTS, SiC. 

No democratic front shall raise 
His visage to our frig-hten'd gaze ; 
Then plausive hosts shall raise the Song;, 
And children lisp the name of Strong ; 
.And Lavu'eat Bards in future days 
Wear out their braius in England's praise, 
.A.nd every loyal subject sing — 
-* Religion's Bulwark, George the Kin^- 



V.NEV OF CANTO PIRgT. 



BLUE LIGHTS, 



THE CONVENTION. 

CANTO IL 



BLUE LIGHTS, 



OR 



THE CONVENTION. 



CAiSTO II, 



THE CAUCUS. 

IN splendor rising o'er the subject wave, 

How fair thy turrets, Boston, meet the sight, 
Where beaming spire and umber d steeple grave^ 

Reflect the different hues of shade and hght. 
Now dim in distance, now approaching bright, 

While fancy adds new beauties to the scene ; 
As roves the raptur'd eye in fresh delight, 

O'er rippling stream or winding valley green, 
"When stately domes arise, ajidnllthe space between. 

Alas ! not beaming spire, nor steeple tall, 
Nor verdant common, novv' attract iny view, 

Nor heeds mine ear entranc'd, the festiv e call 
Of Comus' S0D3, a layghter-bving crcwj 



38 BLUE LIGHTSj 

That erst in 3^ears long past my footsteps drew 

■To the warm bar-room and the social fire ; 
Where droll conundrum quaint, and riddle new, 
Was wont the tippling audience to tire ; 
My presence cheers no more, none there my wit admire« 

Far different views my present hours employ. 

To other scenes my watchful eyes 1 turn ; 
Where firm in glory's cause I see with joy, 

That band with purest loyalty who burn, 
Who Democratic laws in anger spurn, 

And to disunion point the daring way ; 
^^Tiose warrior bosoms brave the conflict stern, 

Resolv'd that our own land, a brigliter day, 
With happier beams shall rise beneath their pious sway. 

Already throusjh our fields their standard flies, 

And shouting- tliousanJ.s seize their rusty arras, 
From vale and hill t'.ieir rapid squadrons rise, 

From tax oppressive sworn to save their farms ; 
Alas I with them, ill suits war's rude alarms, 

Far better pleas'd are they with smuggling trade ; 
And schemes by which stern justice they disarm, 

/• :" ' --Ics of revenue, which lo evade, 
^Li:-: , lul: V, ell we know, what curious tricks are play'd, 

I. 

Lives there the wretch, whose dastard soulj 
Beneath proud glory's high cojitrol, 



OR THE CONVENTION. 39 

lias never known the bosom swell 
Alas, within that torpid mind, 
Phlegmatic, dull and unrefin'd, 

No sacred feelings dwell. 
His wealtl), cold prudence may increase. 
And plenty guide his d-Ays in peace 5 
Calm to the grave like summer tide, 
His quiet j-ears may safely glide. 
Yet after some few years are past. 
His memory may be lost at last ; 
Borne on oblivion's sluggish calm, 
His name may never bard embalm, 
Nor, sobbing o'er his humble hearse. 
Shall poet plan the votive verse ', 
Nor shall engraver's window fair, 
His honor'd portrait gaily bear ; 
Nor may the Parish records say 
Aught of his life's eventless day ; 
And but for simple church yard stone. 
That characters his name alone, 
No tongue could tell, no soul could kno'>v.. 
Aught of the dust that lies below. 

II. 

All are not such ; there i?, whose lyiiii'-'i 
By parish boundary unconfm'd, 
On the whole human race o'erflow?. 
In kind compassion for their woes :, 
Who puts his shoulder to the wheel. 
And s'.veat^ beneath the genera! weal -; 



40 BLUE LIGHTSj 

And condescends to regulate 
The multiform machine of state. 
Such would you see, in grave debat^j 
Attend town-meeting day sedate ; 
Enquire who makes the longest speech.; 
On public grievances who preach ; 
Who spends his time in writing votes? 
Or aids the rich in shaving notes ; 
Who gives his friends unsought advice*, 
Of bankrupt sales, and market price ; 
Who hunts forever round the town, 
All other business but his own ; 
A morning magazine of news, 
Tells who shall win and who shall lose ; 
Who stoutest lifts the tavern can ? 
My life upon it, he's the man. 

IIL 

What though no private wrongs perplex 

His quiet soul, nor sufferings vex, 

His finer feelings have not fled, 

His noble impulse is not dead ; 

His parent gift of land, 'tis true, 

Is mortgag'd, and his dwelling toQ. 

Though all the horrors of a jail, 

In peaceful dreams, his soul assail; 

Though oft at humbler neighbour's board, 

By honest thrift and labor stor'd, 

Right glad is he a seat to find. 

And cast his numerous cares behind j, 



OR THE CONVENTION. 

Yet small he counts his private cost, 
'Twas in Ills country's service lost. 

IV. 

So he, the Bard, whose glowing line, 

Informs us how our planet rose 
From shells, and taught in song sublime, 

How into man the oyster grows ; (a) 

While at his feet unconscious lay. 
In death, his son's inactive clay, 
No feeling tear parental fell. 
No sigh proclaim'd the last farewell ; 
Warm tow'rd the race of human kind, 
One glorious project fill'd his mind ; 
From regions of the frozen pole. 
Where rocks of ice forever roll, 
He first conceiv'd the high design. 
To the warm tropic and the line ; 
By means of England's mighty fleet, 
To tour those rocks of ice and sleet, 
That o'er the vales of torrid glow, 
More cool the midday breeze might blow.4 
And planters in the goblet deep 
Of wine, the chilling fragment steep. 
Alas, 'tis not for deeds like these, 
Britannia's navy rides the seas ; 
The lust of power and love of gold, 
Their force from deeds like these withhold, 
Intent to plunder and destroy, 
No v,'orks of peace their force employ; 



42 BLUE LIGHTS5 

Beneath the son's vindictive ray. 

To India lies their destin'd way ; 

Or fiU'd with rage in furious course, 

Her moving castles bend their force ; 

Mid lurid flash and gushing blood, 

They move to glory through the flood ; 

Where Copenhagen, wrapt in flame, 

Shall long remember Jackson's name. (h) 

V. 

Evening comes on ; that sullen blast 

Falls on the ear, like gasping moan 
Of dying- wretch, whose sufferings past. 
Breathes life's expiring, latest groan. 
'Tid now the hour, beneath the ray 
OfpalUdmoon, as legends say, 
That, clad in white, tall, grim, and gaunt, 
Pale spectres take their evening jaunt, 
And through lone common, lane, and ditch, 
Read lectures to familiar witch, 
Explain how best, love-potions made, 
Shall surest 'trap the careless maid, 
And how by curve of rusty pin. 
To tempt the village youth to sin ; 
%et should the light-heel'd goblin stray 
So far, that e'er the break of day. 
He cannot possibly return 
To bis accustom'd funeral urn, 
An hundred years he's doom'd to guard, 
in ceaseless walk, the lone church yard ; 



OR THE CONVENTION. 43 

Mid rain, and snow, and wind, and sleet, 
In coveving- slight of humhum sheet. {c) 
Haply returning honie, the clown 
Who brought his morning load to town. 
And tarried there till eve, to see 
Tlie sports of city revelry. 
Along the ridge of neighboring wal!. 
May see the sulky watchman crawl ; 
And speechless struck with wild affright, 
Forget the jo3^s of morning light ; 
Ah ! then I ween, right good at needp 
His limbs exert their utmost speed, 
Up the steep hill his sinues strain, 
Loud ring his steps acros the plain ; 
Pass'd the dai'k grove, he leaps the brook, 
Nor dares beliindto cast a look. 
Till mounting "o'er the village stile, 
He slacks his pace and breathes awhile. 
Then stretching forwards much aghast, 
Reaches his home, is safe at last, 

VI. 

Nor let the scornful gibe and sneer, 

On this my tale disdainful dwell ; 
That oft departed souls appear 

At midnight hour, we knov/ full well, (J^ 
Should any doubt, let him but stray, 
Where Salem lifts her steeples gay ; (e) 
Where darksome elms their branches wave, 
O'er majiy a wizard's lonely g'rave ; 



44. BLUE UGHTSj 

Or search the records of the town, 
And soon, a firm believer grown. 
He Avill, like Salem's judge, desire, 
To purify the earth by fire. 

VII. 

Ah me, what light, through yonder sash, 

So distant throws its burning gleam, 
In sparkling ray and lurid flash, 

That through the glittering windows stream ; 
Now risuig high, now sinking low, 
'Tis yellow now— and now 'tis blue .' (/) 
It cannot be that modest light 
That tallow candle yields by night; 
To mariners 'twould rather seem, 
That livid death-denouncing beam, 
Which oft at sea, with terror struck. 
He sees ascending to the truck ; 
When rapidly he reefs his sails. 
And fearful waits the coming gale. 
'Tis not gay youth, nor damsel fair. 

That tenant now diat festive hall '. 
pfor city beaux assembled there. 

Nor glowing maids for music call ; 
Nor is it there masonic rite 
Usurps the " witching time of night," 
Beneath whose star the cat is given 
To pacify the foe of heaven ; 
And save from grasp of demon's fist, 
The youngest brother's feeble wrist, {g) 



OR THE COJJVENTION. 4o 

The which, if clench'd, the lord knows when 
He might frequent tlie Lodge again. 

viir. 

No, there convenes that sacred band. 
Saviours of tliis devoted land ; 
Around that taper's sulphur'ous blue, 
Assemble fast tlie sages true ; 
Each comes prepar'd in deep debate, 
To groan beneath aflairs of state, 
To bid of war the terrors cease 
And cheer the land with smiles of peace. 
No sellish scheme this band pursues, 
Nought have they but their necks to lose ; 
And he whose fame and wealth are lost, 
May wisely drink confusion's toast ; 
In hope, mid terror, rage and fear, 
His character will scarce appear; 
But mingled in the common mass, 
With little scrutiny will pass. 
So from the dregs of settling beer, 
Floats to the top the liquor clear'; 
Whilst to the bottom, sure and slow, 
Sinks the gross sediment below : 
Yet if perchance the veS'sel shakes, 
At once a turbid mass it makes ; 
Aloft the grosser matter flies. 
And dregs and scum in triumph rise. 
So laboring for the general AVeal, 
The^e watch the turns of fortune's whcel^ 



46 BLUE LIGHTS, 

Whose rapid whirl perchance may place, 
In seats of power, the loyal race. 

IX. 

Vain, should thabard attempt to tell, 

The quaint conceits tliat these befel ; 

And vain to tell how many a front 

Was scath'd by fier}- passion's brunt ; 

Yet sooth to say it was a scene, 

"VVTiere men might laugh and weep between^ 

But hold I, as in truth I ought, 

Thai much was there of magic wrought; 

For many a wight whose rigorous fame, 

At morn o'er sounding larpstone bent, 
A politician now of name, 

At evening from the hall was sent ; 
And many a smith of reason reft, 
His pond'rous sledge and anvil left,. 
To stand at corners and harangue 
The swarthy, leather-apron'd gang ; 
That wont, in search of chinmeys foul, 
At morn throughout our streets to howl. 

X. 
\Mio leads that patriotic band. 
What -ouls of lire the clan coininand ; 
High on the foremost seats behold 
The humble slaves of English gold ; 
Whose hands could honor ne'er rostrain.j 
Ffom grasp gf psv/er or lawless gain ; 



OR THE CONVENTION. 47 

And he the chief, as bards have sung, 

From blood long since ennobled, sprung 5 

By one of pi'oud Sebastian's crew, 

When tc our coasts the Spaniards flew ; 

An Indian maid, by love beguil'd, 

Had the mishap to prove vpith child, (/() 

And to the brave commander's door 

The copper-color'd bantling bore. 

I camiot sa}' what reasons clear. 

Made him the liirky urchin rear. 

But sooth to say, 'twas his delight, 

At morning hour or shades of night, 

To teach him, all himself that knew, 

To write his name and read it too ; ' {«) 

By moisten'd finger how to find 

The course exact of every wind ; 

To knot euid splice and reef and steer, 

And watch the fickle moon's career ; 

And as his circling years incr.eas'd, 

By help of learned Spanish priest, 

His pater-noster he could say, 

And matins chaunt at break of day ; 

And wliile he plann'd some thievish deed; 

Could pray his prayer and tell his creed, 

-The captain mark'd his progress rare, 

And watch'd him with parental care, 

On all his growing virtues smil'd, 

Felt all the father in the child. 

And fondly hop'd, in future day, 

Proud glory should his toils rep^' ; 



48 BLUE LIGHTS5 

And future fleets, on ocean's wave, 
Should strike to joung Sebastian brave- 
XL 

■ Alas, such feat I cannot tell, 
Nor know I when or where he fell 5 
Yet must I say, 'twas not in fight, 
Beneath the stroke of cutlass bright; 
Nor bursting bomb, nor hissing ball, 
Work'd the young hero's timelpss fall ; 
Nor panting on the gory deck. 
Sunk his pale corse with sinking wreck; 
Nor round his bones did coral red 
Or sea-tlower form his oozy bed ; 
What cause there was I cannot say, 
Yet to the woods he fled away ; 
And careful shunn'd the surging shore, 
Where Europe's ships were wont to moor 
Still from the white man's visage fledj 
And lonely life in desarts led ; 
While food the nightly trap supplied, 
And drink the streamlets silver tide. 
Yet some there were, who said they knew 
The secret cause for which he flew ; 
And said that governmental hate 
His mortal doom might antedate, 
And if at home he should be caught, 
That hemp might pay the deeds he wrought. 
I know not how the case may be, 
Such was th^ story told to me ; 



OR THE CONVENTION* 49 

Such was the race and such the name, 
Frem whence tlie present hero came ; 
Nor was there wanting village tale 
Of snow, and sleet, and rain, and hail, 
Which on the night that gave him birth, 
In slippery garb o'ersprcad the earth ; 
From whence full many a wise presagC, 
Wliisper'd the matrons of the age ; 
That cold of heart the child should be 
Through life, and fond of knavery ; 
Amass great store of worldly pelf, 
And center all his love in self. 
That prophecy at length proves true, 

Fulfilling the decrees of fate ; 
That cumiing which could nought subdue^ 

Now seats him in the chair of state. 

I xir. 

And who is he of sullen scowl ? 

A monk divested of his cowl ; 

Upon whose aged visage hangs 

The livid mark of Envy's pangs ; 

Whose form is girt in sable gown, 

Whilst round him maps and charts are thro'VYn? 

And though confined in parson's robe, 

In thought encompasses the globe ; 

Wanders through India's golden stores, 

And courts the banks where Plata roarsj 

Measures the huge gigantic pile 

That ri^esi on the bankgof rsil«» 



50 BLUE LIGHTS, 

Tells us beneath what monarch's reigii 
Was first conimenc'd the labor vain, 
And thoug-h the sage Egyptians doubt 
For what the pile was first laid out, 
Whether there dwelt their regal race, 
Or built a rojal burial place, 
He wisely proves, that air-Balloon 
From thence might venture to the moon, 
And much he doubts, if 'twas not here 
The Grecian sages, through the air. 
First tow'rd the Lunar kingdom bright. 
In course etherial, took their ilight. 
'Tis he, the sage, I know him now, 
His stedfast eye, and thoughtful brow, 
To whom, alike all things are known 
Of peasant's hut, or monarch's throne ; 
And were it not that magic art, 
Had in his studies made a part. 
Full hardly were Columbia bles', 
In such a sage and holy guest ; 
For she no honors has to shed, 
Meet for such reverend prelate's head : 
Even should St. Peter once again. 
On earth vesunxe the papal reign. 
He'd scarcely in an hundred years, 
Have a new mitre shade his ears. 
Ino, long since, at the court of Spain. 
Stern Persecution's iron chain, 
Our sage had striven hard to bind 
An ho'rtilp ]a-vman's stubborn mind : 



OR THE CONVENTION. 

At least, a servant to the sway 

Of inquisition, pav'd his way. 

Ah, me ! with so much knowledge rife. 

Full short were there his mortal life, 

For racking cord, and pincers hot. 

Might prove the hapless parson's lot, 

Andforc'd to wear that fatal gown 

That laymen call the Devil's own ; 

;0n burning scaffold plac'd on high, 

j Aloof, might be condemn'd to fry. (I ) 

jOh, well, I trow, no great desire 

Has he to feed the bigot fire ; 

So safe at home resolves to stay, 

In good old ministerial way ; 

And haplj^, now and then, receive 

Across the wide Atlantic's wave. 

In English gold, some small douceur 

To clothe his wife, or help the poor, 

And in return can only pray 

The Lord, to strengthen Britain's sway. 

XIII. 

Near him behold his learned friend, 
His every look and word attend, 
His genuine disciple, he 
Right orthodox in bigotry, 
W'hate'er the first should casual drop, 
Forthwith the second swallows up. 
As swine whose half digested grain, 
When voided on tlie open plain, 



52 BLUE LIGHTS, 

Another takes, nor thinks the taste 

Much injur'd by the first repast. 

At Salem he for magic black, 

Full narrowly escap'd the sack, 

For in her pocket, long 'twas known 

His mother wore that mystic bone, 

Which torn from many a joint of veal, 

The village matrons oft conceal, (ni^ 

And fast as e'er the surface dark. 

Arise the spots of magic mark. 

Foretell who shall their daughters woo, 

Of birth, and death, and marriage too} 

And oft in lurid shade deform, 

Announce the future gathering storm. 

He too in Geographic page. 

On this vile land exhausts liis rage, (/<) 

And proves, Britannia's sea-girt coast 

Is of the Universe the boast. 

Ah, me ! if once this holy pair 

Should fix their righteous dwelling there* 

Ere swept his course, the summer's sun, 

Our country would to ruin run. 

For 'tis their -presence only saves 

This wi'etched land from sulphur' ous wavef^ 

Such punishment, as whelm'd beneath 

The avenging stroke of sudden death, 

That city, populous of old, 

Where scaree two righteou? could b,^ tolc?.- 



OR THE CONVENTION, 53 

XIV. 

Nor tvanted thc.ro, <Iip prinfpr trlliA, 
I Nor aid of editorial scribe ; 
[There he who from the army fled, 
iPale with the fear of hostile lead, 
I And can At Windsor, only kill 
Our reputations, with his quill, 
|He who a foremost chief appears 
jAraong the Washing-tonian seers, (o) 
And mask'd beneath that sainted name, 
[Plots deeds of deepest guilt and shame ; 
In this good cause, despising fear, 
Turns out a ready volunteer ; 
And he, who erst at Hartford true, 
Held up the mirror to our view, (p) 
The humble brother of the Pope, 
To billingsgate gave all its scope ; 
With many a wight of lesser name, 
Who prints for bread, and writes for fatne, 

XV. 

Such were the leaders — o'er the rest, 
Oblivion throws her sable vest. 
And yet, 'twas said, assembled there, 
Full many a hopeful spendthrift heir ; 
There many a bankrupt merchant tqo, 
From creditors hard-hearted, ficM., 
\nd such as quit the Tailor's traoQ, 
fi-a.ijsform'd to patriots for bread ; 



54 BLUE LIGHTS, 

And such, whose head sagacious knoT^S 
Scarcely enough to cobble shoes, 
Labors from muni tiii evening late, 
To close the rips and seams of state ; 
And he, who driven from town to towif. 
On desart common lays him down, 
"With Scythian pillow for his head. 
And feels, of ruflian thieves, no dread, 
But sleeps the child of liberty, 
In vermin, rags, and penury. 
There too I trow, of merry mein, 
Was smiling Tin-carl trader seen, (g) 
Who, in Autumnal seasons forth 
From regions of the chilly north, 
With wares of tin, and wooden bowl, 
Gaily begins his annual stroll ; 
Light as the stork, he wings his wajj 
To regions of a v/armer da}^. 
And wandering, wayward and alone, 
Makes every genial clime his own ; 
Little recks he the manners strange. 
Of wintry Maine or Georgia's range. 
His only objects, trade, and gain, 
And thii-st, an<i want, his only paid. 



OR THE CONVENTION. 

XVI. 

Tis done — that lamp in splendor brightj 

No more attracts my ardent gaze, 
By drowsy watchman's twinkling light, 

Each silent member homeward strays. 
Along with finger-cover'd lip 
To lodgintgs lone they silent trip, 
Save one, or two, who sooth to say. 
On the hall floor recumbent lay, 
Perchance to watch, lest prying eye 
The fractured goblet might espy, 
That servM before to demons foul. 
The welcome bev'rage of the bow!. 
The secret scenes that there befel, 

No bard may venture to relate 5 
Nor prying mortal dare to tell, 

The dark decrees of silent fate. 
What plans were laid I may not say, 
Yet this I know, ere break of day 
That merry roar and lusty shout, 
Gave token sure of merry rout, 
Such shout as erst, in lonely cave, 
The priestess wild of Bacchus gave, 
When from her deep secluded cell, 
Hysteric laughter rose and fell. 
Then all was hush'd, and hoarse the blast 
Alons the moaning turrets past, 



56 BLUE LIGHTS, <&t. 

But e'er the sun, the following morn, 
Had shed his beams o'er hill and lawn. 
Four sorrel steeds, in harness bright, 
Bore from the town four couriers lights 
And deep the piercing rowel drank 
The red blood, issuing from the flank, 
As, o'er the tui'npike road, the clang 
Of clattering hoofs discordant rang. 



XND OP CANTO RECOUP. 



BLUE LIGHTS, 

OR 

THE CONVENTIOPi 

CANTO ll?-. 



BLUE LIGHTS, 



OR 



THE CONVENTION. 



CANTO iir. 



THE MESSAGE. 



AT midday sun, how fair the cool retreat 

Where arching alders wave their gelid shadf,, 
Fast by whose roots the bubbling waters meet 

From various streamlets, coursing thro' the glade ; 
Ah, me ! how well such scenes the love-sick maid 

Might suit, who here in mournful ditty sweet 
Could sing of easy faith and love bctray'd. 
Till gentle Echo, from her deep retreat, 
;o cliff and murmuring grove, might the fond tale repeat, 

'Tis now the hour, when from the busy barn 

The toiling farmer for a while retires. 
His chattering help-mate lays aside her yarn 

To fetch the luncheon he so much desires ; 



^0 BLUE LIGHTS, 

"VMiich finish'd,he the accustom'd dram required. 
That wont his happy spirits to restore, 

Whose grateful flavor he so much admires, 
That for a moment lingering at the door, 
Xihperious thirst demands, that he should drink once mOX 

Along the road, now dusty, hot and dry, 

The thirsty traveller impatient flies, 
And often forward sends the searching eyfl 

To scan the distance that before him lies^ 
When lo ! at last the tavern chimneys rise, 

Mid poplar shades the sign inviting swings. 
Full fast increase his steps, as he descries 

The merrv crowd, whose jocund laughter rings. 
While one narrates his tale, andoire his ballad sings. 



I said, on sorrel coursers borne, ' 

Four couriers light, ateariy dawn, 

From Boston took their rapid rout, 

To scour the neighbouring lands throughout 

And make of every soul they might 

To their own faith, a proselyte. 

Yet small the number was, of those 

Who on tlieir own fair fields repose, 

Who their own vales delighted till, 

Axv\ cider quaff from their own mill ; 

Who on the ridge of mountain rocks, 

With pride of heart behold their flocks ; 

And see where droves of oxen stray. 

The neighbouring meadows own their sway ^ 



OR THE CONVENTION. 61 

Scarce may disorg-anizing- strife 
Draw men like these from peaceful life 5 
Even tho' at tavern fire, the groan 
Ma} wail the suflerings of tlie town, 
Or of the surplus produce count, 
In mournful tale, the long amount ; 
On Innovation's stormy sea, 
Scarce will he cast his wealth away ; 
And though for trade and seamen's right, 
lie dare not risk himself in fight ; 
Bring but a foeman's hostile band. 
To drive his cattle from his land ; 
Then fear of want and anger stern 
"Within his boiling bosom burn ; 
For orchard, meadow, field or wood,- 
Little recks he the loss of blood, 
And proves, whatever sages say, 
'I'hat in his wealth his valor lay ; 
And though his tortur'd bowels yean\. 
Self-love excites his courage stern. 

II. 

I may not tell of vagrant wight, 
Commencing new-born proselyte ; 
Enough to say, they sought the grouna 
Where Comus' sons are mostly found i 
SulBce to say, where'er the druna 
Roll'd the militia summons grum, 
First to the field they took their way: 
And labored till the cloiw of dav : 



62 BLUE LlGHllS, 

Forth from his waistcoat pocket drew 

The long address to public view, 

Exhorted evci^ honest man, 

To hurl from power the ruHng clan ; 

And in the seats of power and place, 

To fix the sons of tory race ; 

And hoist the fire-strip'd flimsy rag> 

Stem Separation's bloody flag. 

III. 

And never at such festive scene 
Did orator hold forth in vain ; (c) 

For who in regimentals bright, 
Was ever drest, but felt more light 
His heart within his bosom beat. 
And glow his soul with generous heat-; 
And sordid prudence, cold and dull, 
Yield to the genial flow of soul ? 
Hence he, whose morning's frugal thrift 
Without a meal contriv'd to shift ; 
At evening from his pocket drains 
The product of his weekly gains. 
And with his brother soldier shares 
W hat ne'er to fellow clown he spares; 
Ondayslilie these, their muster-roll 
Subscrib'd full many a warlike soul. 
Who long'd to see his scarlet shine, 
Full in the front of battled line ; 
As deeds of future bravery 
Swell'd all hk soul to chivalrv. 



OR THE CONVENTION. C3 

Ah well, I trow, from stubborn fight. 

Should e*er return such daring wight, 

Oft would the chimney-corner hear 

The tale of bayonet and spear ; 

Oft would his tatter'd blanket show 

Where frequent balls pass'd through and th)'OUgh,. 

Bore on itself the direful wound, 

And left the wearer safe and sound. (b) 

IV. 

Such day, for other uses spoil'd, 
Was many a sheet of fool's-cap soil'd ; 
On which was grac'd full many a sign 
That scarce could blue-light pri,^t divine. 
For with the signatures affixt, 
Was many a curious 8}-mbol inlxt ; 
In form, not much unlike the stroke, 
'Graven by the worm on bark of oak ; 
Or like the Koran's verse on sand. 
Written by wandering Arab band ; 
.Still many guess'd, though much at losSj 
It meant the signal of the cross ; 
Subscrib'd by such as could not tell 
How their own christian name to spell ; 
Yet well I ween, if wight from France 
Or Spain, should o'er the paper glance,. 
However Catholic his mind, 
Such semblance, there he scarce might iind , 
And hardly could the thought conceal, 
Of letters broken on the ^vhco>. 



04 BLUE LlGllTBy 

V. 

Alas ! how oft the poet's line 

Has mourn'd the fickle mind of man ; 
The theme of every sage divine, 

Since tythes and sermons first began. 
Mournful the poet, at midnight hour, 

Beholds the politician sage, 
He sees the world his worth adore, 

His name descend to latest age ; 
Let morning come, the hammer's sound 

Recalls him to his daily trade ; 
And while the lapstone rings around. 

He fairly is a cobler made. 
Even thus, at ward-room table too, 
Behold the chiefs of England's crew ; 
Ere yet across its social bound 
The tenth decanter has gone round, 
Who but would think assembled there, 
Souls that might Alexander dare ; 
Beat Hannibal in bloody work. 
Or wrench his whiskers from the Turk ^ 
Eclipse the Swedish Charles in war, 
Or show with Nelson scar for scar; 
Brave the wild savage war-whoop yel!, 
And bear the palm from William Tell ? 

VI. 

Alas I not so, should starry flag, 
Benempt the Yankee's bunting rag, 



OR THE CONVENTION. 65 

lii wandei ing course indignant sweep 
Across those heroes of the deep, 
Scarce would their tickle soul betray 
A single wish for bloody fray ; ^ 

Eut by a wonderful caprice, 
Strain every nerve to save their fleece ; 
And while they slmn the advancing- foe, 
Strike the molasses cask below. (d) 
What wonder then those simple souls, 
Who lap their mush from v;ooden bowls^ 
Who ne'er of plate a service saw. 
Nor rais'd their arms against the law ; 
Who ne'er saw England's flag unroU'd, 
Nor knew the power of English gold ; 
When matters came at last to pinch, 
Should from the dangerous service flinch; 
All men could do, they did, and gave 
Their names, their leaders' liopcs to save, 
And though they still withheld the flst, 
Those names made out a special list. 

VII. 

Pass wc such scene where Windsor gay 
Gems the dark cloud of wint'ry night, 

Or smiles the queen of summer day. 
At length the weary couriei's light ; 

Windsor, so nam'd from Windsor old. 

Where England pens her regal fold ; 

Wliose praise full man}- an oily tongue 

Of lav.rcU'd bards have yearly sung. 



bb BLUE LIGHTS, 



Save he, the bull-dog of the nine, 

VMiose biting, keen, sarcastic line, 

By regal power as yet unbent, 

Was ne'er in adulation spent ; (ej 

Unbroken still, till regal grace 

Orant him a pension or a place. 

Sweet village, still to thee we owe. 

Fart of the loyalty we know ; 

Though curb'd by democratic chains. 

Thy faith of former days remains ; 

Like some beleaguer'd town afar, 

Beset by all the hosts of war ; 

Against whose well-defended wall, 

"Vain falls the bomb and hissing ball : 

So do thy sons, secure, sustain 

Tlic assaults of democratic train ; 

Still still thy faithful bounds withirt. 

Thy loyal cliildron raise the din ; 

Here all the wise and good retreat. 

Here first our Henry fix'd his seat; 

And here the wandering parson preaches. 

Of crying sins, and crimson breeches. (J^. 

VIII. 

Here too, first form'd that holy band, 
Since the protul boast of Eastern land; 
The pauper's wayward path who cheer, 
And wipe the sad'ning orphan's tear ; 
Who kindly give the poor a coat. 
And in returjo, deifiand a vote ; {^ 



OR THE CONVENTIOlf. 6T 

Who only joy through \i(e to clear 
The brambles that perplex us here, 
In Washington's benignant name, 
Peace to the houseless wretch proclaim ; 
And led by pure benevolence. 
The gifts of charity dispense. 

IX. 

'Tvvas now the merry hour of eve. 

When the dull laboi-s of the day 
The village politicians leave, 

And give their souls to pleasure's sway. 
The bar-room fiU'd, 'twas now the time (k) 

Of social mirth and wine and soig ; 
When quavering to the ballad's chyme, 

Swells the full chorus deep and strong. 
Alas I no song, or feast, that night. 
Gave to the mournful crowd delight, 
For diflerent thoughts than those of joy 
Seem'd their chain'd senses to employ ; 
For thence might visitor descry 
The fallen look, the languid eye. 
The joyless brow in sorrow drest, 
And gloom on every face imprest. 
Ah, me ! what mean those sighs of woe, 
WTiy falls that greeting sad and low ; 
No pestilence is stalking forth, (i) 

No spotted fever sweeps the north, 
Nor has thy wrath, ofl'ended heaven 
A nation to destruction given ; 



68 BLUE lights;. 

Nor has kind Providence withheld 
The annual product of the field. 
No, on this night when others sleep, 
The anniversary they keep ; 
With bitter groan and annual sigh, 
Sure as the fatal night goes by ; 
For on this night, from justice due, 
Their own, their much-lov'd Henry fles:. 

X. 

Thus the Arabian, on the night 

That witness'd proud Mahomet's flight-, 

On naked knees around the fane 

Of Mecca, pays his penance, pain ; 

There devotees devoutly crawl 

Around the temple's holy wall, 

Nor gash severe, nor piercing flint, 

The pious pilgrimage may stint ; 

And through the sacred building round, 

Bursts the deep sob and groan profound ; 

In all the circumstance of woe. 

Each strives the other to outdo, 

For he who there once sheds his tears, 

Has scarcely need to weep for years ; 

He who performs the broadest grin, 

Is straight absolv'dfrom every sin; 

And those who homeward limp most laxn?? 

For life acc^uire a sainted name. 

XI. 

Adversity, how oft thy rod 

Drives erring man to seek his God : 



OR THE CONVENTION. ,69 

Beneath thy stern, severe control. 
How sinks the daring haughty soul. 
So when the sand his life-blood drank. 
When the apostate Julian sank, (k) 
Though high of soul, and proud before 
He brav'd the Gallilean's power ; 
Tet from his side, when stream'd around 
The crimson torrent from his wound, 
Amid the scene of guilt and blood, 
The savage OAvn'd, and fear'd his God i 

XII. 

Borne on the winding river's maze, 
How fair the painted Galley strays ; 
Scarce recks the pilot of his course, 
Or dreads of winds or waves the force ; 
Swift o'er the rippling current, fleet 
He gives the gale his every sheet ; 
Such fairy scenes before him lie. 
The needle scarce attracts his eye ; 
Rocks, woods, and landscapes varying bright^ 
Fill all his soul with deep delight. 
And towers, and villages between, 
Brighten the prospect of the scene ; 
Till borne along the rapid tide, 
Expands the foaming ocean wide ; 
Where bounding o'er the boiling vvava» 
Each moment threats a watery grave ; 
And hardly through the billowy tide, 
X-anhis light barque in safety glide ; 



70 BLUE LIGHTS. 

Kent by the furious ocean gale, 
Flits into shreds his feeble sail, 
His rudder lost, his vigor spent, 
His courage gone, his cordage rent; 
Ah, then, he strains his eye to reach 
The bearing of the distant beach, 
And while around the surges roar, 
His tear-dinam'd visage greets the shore. 

XIII. 

Even thus, the crowed collected here. 
Who ring the hand, and heave the sigh ; 

Old Time has scarce spun out a year, 

When swell'd their provpess stern and high. 

Ah, at that time small tliought had they, 

Of low'ring skies, or rainy day ; 

Like the green bay their party grew, 

Affording shade and shelter too, 

Nor dream'd they by the blast of heaven. 

The spreading branches could be riven ; 

But hop'd they there their nests might feather; 

And roost, and croak, and screech together ; 

Little reck'd they of future harm, 

Still less of sermon or of psalm, 

Even on the holy Sabbath day, 

The house of God neglected lay ; 

They wisely thought, the church was built 

A refuge for detected guilt ; 

And when successful, thought that prayer 

Was needless ; they might praise elsewhere 



OR THE CONVENTION. 71 

Hence to the bar-room's sage harangue, 
At noontide flock'd the tliirsty gang. 
While on the poUtician's tongue 
The reeUng crowd attentive hung. 
Misfortune came ; no revel now, 
Smooths of dull care the wrinkled brow j 
Scarce can the church contain the throng 
That flocks to chaunt that sacred song, 
In which king David, o'er his bones, 
Vext with rheumatic torture groans ; 
Full hardly systematic brother. 
Who works six days, and prays the othgr, 
Can pass throughout that pious band, 
But forc'd to stop, must lend a hand, 
To all their usages conform, 
And help in taking Heaven by stoi'ffi, 

XIV. 

Even such an one, that very nighf, 
Chanc'd at the tavern to alight, 
AVell by his bearing you might know, 
His humble mind was meek and low ; 
Nor 3et his arms had lost the jerk, 
Long since acquir'd in weekly work ; 
But mov'd, I needs must say, in quain* 
And curious gesture for a saint ; 
And seem'd as they the wax'd end drew. 
Through the tough sole of stubborn shpc 
Scarce had he on the table laid 
Hi? baggage, when at once betray'*?. 



72 BLUE LIGHTS, 

All there, his lioly calling kn(y\v, 
And round the pious stranger drew ; 
Besought him in the work to join, 
And put up prayers for aid divine. 
The priest complies, on table high 
Mounts the sage son of prophecy ; 
Thrice hemm'd to clear his voice, and then, 
His supplication thus began. 

THE PRAYER. 

In mercy Lord on us look down, 

In mere}' hear our cries; 
And visit this thy favorite town, 

Where growing troubles rise. 

T^nsheath, O Lord, thy flaming sword. 

Our enemies to kill ; 
So through thy hoi 3- name ador'd 

Their blood we soon shall si)ill. 

Even as of old, avenging fire 

On -ivicked Sodom came; 
Do thou, O God, arise in ire, 

And put our foes to shame. 

Long have our southern brethern lain 

In all the depths of sin ; 
There long thy children strove in vain. 

Thine empire to begin. 



OR THE CONVENTION. 73 

Give us, O Lonl, their cotton fields, 

Tlieir rice-plantations too. 
Their land that savory melons yields, 

And vales of indigo. 

Our western brethren, all astray. 

Have after Idols gone ; 
Have scorn'dtlie faithful eastern swa\, 

And we remain alone. 

The scoffers sneer, the heathen ragQ, 

And laugh at our distress ; 
Give us, O Lord, the heritage, 

Who live in holiness. 

So we thy works of wondrous grace. 

Forever will proclaim. 
And teach our children's latest race* 

To magnify thy name. 

The preacher ceas'd, and groan and sigh. 

Burst from the Congregation round. 
And piercing shriek, and fearful cry, 

Throughout the hall were heard to sound. 
Even such a sad lament is made, 
When one of parson Whitfield's trade 
His pious congregation calls, 
From cellars, kitchens, sties, and stalls ; 
When to the ragged motley band, 
lie deals " damimtion round the land.'* 



74 BLUE LIGHTS, 

Then mercy's hand no lure divine^ 
Displays attraction to the shrine, 
But direful denunciations hoarse, 
The penal doctrine strong enforce, 
Till echoing from the crowded floor. 
Bursts penitential sob and roar ; 
As one might think, destruction, hurl'd 
From Heaven, had visited the world ; 
Would think our Saviour died in vain, 
From man to wipe the sinful stain ; 
And that Jehovah's self could prove, 
A God of fury, not of love. 

XV. 

Scarce had the wild confusion ceas'd, 
"Scarce from the table leapt tlie priest, 
Scarce had the echo to the sigh 
Of fearful penitence gone by, 
When from a distant corner dark. 
While flash'd his eye in joyful spark, 
Straight to the center of the hall, 
March'd rapidly, a courier tall ; 
Who from his waistcoat pocket drew. 
To all the crowd expos'd to view. 
That scroll, which gave a wider scope 
For daring deed and rising hope. 

xvr. 

Thus the sage counsellor began : 
Give your attention every iman; 
Wisely before mankind we dress, 
Theface in garb of holiness i 



OR THE CONVENTION. 7d 

The humble downcast look assume, 
Meet emblem of monastic gloom ; (I) 
Lest curious democratic eye, 
Might our conceal'd intentions spy ; 
Yet when conven'd,'tis loss of time 
To chaunt the dull religious rhyme, 
Or waste in hypocritic prayer, 
The few short weeks we have to spare. 
No, rather let the choral song 
And merr}' feast the night prolong ; - 
And every faithful follower prove 
His loyalty and social love. 
He ceas'd, and straight with one accoi>d, 
The shouting mob his speech applaud ; 
Wild at the first the murmur rung. 
None knowing what his neighbour sung j 

Though hardly two were of a mind, 

Yet all to music seem'd inclin'd. 

Until at length a lucky hitch, 

Gave every voice the proper pitch ; 

Then full the swelling chorus rose. 

From vocal throat and twanging nos^ 

And while discordant echo rung, 

'Twas thus the tuneful i-abble sung : 

SONG. 

Deep to royal George, the bowl 

Let his loyal subjects drain ; 
Cui-se the democratic soul, 

Who would break the royal -chain. 



76 BLUE LIGHTS, &C. 

Priest, would'st thou a mitre wear» 
Royal George can one bestow ; 

Soldier, would'st thou courage dare, 
On southern plains thy laurels grow. 

Art thou as that turkey poor, 

Which at Uz, by famine died, (w) 
Royal George has gold in store, 

All thy wants shall be supplied. 

Stars and garters shall abound. 

Ribbons red and ribbons blue, (rt) 

Places shall for all be found, 
Peerages and pensions too. 

Who would be plain mister styl'd, 
W' hen his title might be higher ; 

Who would not wish his eldest child", 
At least, to be a country Squire. 

Fill the bowl then, let us sing 
Health to every social soul ; 

For England's laws, and England's king,' 
To the bottom drain the bowl. 



END OF CANTO THIRD'. 



BLUE LIGHTS, 

OR 

THE CONVENTION. 

CANTO IV. 



BLUE LIGHTS, 

OR 

THE CONVENTION. 



CANTO IV. 



THE LAMENT. 

Hush'd is the din of war, the cannon's roar 

No longer pours its echo o'er the deep ; 
No longer warrior squadrons crowd the shore* 

Nor dark artillery guards the foaming steep; 
The weary swain may now in safety sleep, 

Noc nightly waggon for the drum mistake. 
Nor village maid for daring sweetheart weep, 

While all the live long night she lies awake, 
Her fears tormenting o'er her quiet rest may takB= 

Why is tlie land of steady habits drest 

In all the sable pageantry of woe ? («) 

Why do her patriotic sons distrest, 
Send the enquiring glance toward the parting foe ? 



BLUE LIGHTS, 80 

Whose sails recedins:. Ocean breezes blow 

To other realms, of friends forgetful here ; 
Ah well, 1 ween, good cause had they to know 
Our friendship, scarce more virtuous than sincere^' 
By party rage unaw'd, and unrestrailf d by fear. 

How are the mighty fall'n, that daring band, 

Whose midnight hour passed restless, to restore 
The proud vindictive democratic land, 

Thatbow'd beneath Britannia's sway of yore ; 
On ruin'd hopes, deserted, left to pore, 

iSow ^vring the hand convuk'd, and heave the sigh. 
To wealth and title may aspire no more, 

But curse their unrewarded loyalty, 
And pass their future days, in scorn and misery. 

I. 

Mourn, land of " steady habits," mourn ! (b) 

Thy hopes dcstroy'd, thy prospects gone, 

Tiiat temple fair which many a year 

Tiiy sons have iabor'd hard to rear, 

Crush'd in a moment to the ground. 

Spreads Its wild desolation round ; 

Its crumbling wreck, alas! the while, 

Provokes the passing stranger's smile. 

And rage, and shame, and pale aifr ig'ht, 

Upon the bungling builders light, 

Each on his brother workman's xjame, 

Lays of the failure ail the blame ; 

And tears, and curses, groans and sighs,, 

Throughout the whole convention rise. 



1 



OR THE CONVENTION. 81 

ir. 

So when ofyore the sons of g-uilf 
The haughty pile of Babel built, 
Whose spiiy summit sought afar 
The moon's pale beam, and lofty star, 
Scarce higher than the roof St. Paul's, 
Arose the sacrilegious walls : 
When t!ie Almighty word forbade 
The mallet's stroke, and mason's trade : 
In language Tiild, uncouth and new. 
Fierce oaths and mutter'd curses flew ; 
And unregarded, from that day, 
Thine underpinning, Babel, lay, 

Jir. 

Hark ! from the regions of the south, 
What clamo,-3 rend the startled ear ; 

What tidings spread from mouth to moutii , 
In wild rejoicing, far and near. 

Orleans is sack'd, the red coats there 

St. Cieorge's ensign proudly bear. 

There o'er tobacco, rice, and slave?, 

The red-cross standard gaily waves ; 

Thy soldiers, Tennessee, retreat, 

Fling down their arms, and trust their feet.. 

To woods that meet the western sua, 

In scaltcr'd rout reluctant run ; 

W'hilston their rear, in vengeful ire, 

Flames England's sheet of volle^^ino, llze., 
E 



«-J BLUE LIGHTS. 

There wealth and beauty well repaid 
The daring- deed of English blade ; 
And Fln^ihinu's force and England's laws 
Gave vij^^or to the good old cause. 

IV. 

Alas ! of fame the numerous lies, 
The wond'rous tricks and forgeries ; 
.An hundred mouths, an hundred tong-ue?. 
With throats of brass, and iron lungs, 
Can't half the false reports retail, 
That load the city's tainted gale. 
Scarce had the bards of eastern clime 
Prcpar'd their odes and songs sublime ; 
Scarce was the festive candle's light 
Vrepar'd to gild the face of night; 
And hardly from the pulpit due. 
Thanksgiving proclamations flt-w ; 
Wiien, dire disgrace, the rumor came 
Of fruitless fight, retreat, and shame I 

V. 

Alas I could not the daring train 
Of i>ioodhounds, drill'd in war of Spain, 
IVlu) bore imm.ov'd the battle's din, 
\^'licn Wellington was whipper-in, 
The woodman's rude assault withstand, 
Though tlieft and rape their coui-age fann'd 
For Pakenham no brighter meed, 
Had the impartial fates decreed : 



OR THE CONVEN"TION. 83 

On his lone stone, mustfoeman's ire, 

Grave theft, and murder, rape, and fire ? (c) 

VI. 

Alas ! the hero panting lies. 

With gasping breath and bloodshot eyes.; 

That hunter's sure, unerring aim, 

Kas quench'd the spark of vital flame ; 

That riile-bal], on battle plain, 

Thy kinsman, Wellington, has slain ! 

And furious foes their curses pour 

Around the chieftain's dying hour. 

VII. 

|Oft shall (hat spot, whose crimson stain 
I Yet marks where fell the mighty slain, 
lAttract awile the pausing eye 
lOf wandering hunter, passing by ; 
iTherc shall he all the (ale recall 
|0f battle strife and warrior fall ; 
[There pondering on the ways of fate, 
iShall all the dii-eful tale relate ; 
jAnd as his parting steps recede, 
Shall many a curse his course impede, 
jYet when thine errors all forgot, 
Thy valor claims a brighter lot ; 
jLamentcd chief! thy name shall live 
AlS long as here thy friends shall grieve. 
As long as Cochburn's honor'd name 
Shall future warriors rouse to fame ; 



84 BLUE LIGHTS, 

As long as Proctor's word shall piove 
Truth's fairest pledge of christian love. (d) 

VIIL 

There was, 'tis true, a brighter hour 

That smil'd benign on England's power ; 

When Washington in ruins lay, 

And Yankee soldiers shunn'd the fray •, 

When echo'd from the loyal press 

The tale of ruin and distress ; 

W^hcn Syren Hope, with flattering tongue, 

Throughout the €ast Te Deum sung ; 

And priests, and lawyers, one and all, 

Proclaim'd the haughty planter's fall. 

Alas ! 'twas only hope's surmise : 

Again the stately columns rise, 

And England's troops are fain to fly. 

From host of vengeful yeomanry. 

IX. 

Where are the sages of the east ? 
Why have their patriot labors ceas'd ? 
Through toil and pain they took their way, ■ 
Tow'rd the rude realms of southern sway ; 
Nor dangers fierce, nor pallid fear. 
Could check their stedfast firm career ; 
W' ith steadiest step o'er southern ground, 
Their toilsome march the sages wound, 
Through turnpike road and silent wood^ 
Their vapid ccui-se drrect pur?u'd 



OR THE CONVENTION. 85 



i\ui let the unbelieving sneer, 
Conceive no danger threaten'd there , 
"Well can the eastern pedlar tell. 
Of stubborn fray and battle's swell ; 
Born, bred, and nurs'd iu realms of fire', 
Lives the proud planter, child of ire, 
Small thought has he of rule and law, 
"When insults rude his \-engeance draw ■; 
No legal damages may quell 
His stubborn soul's resentment fell i 
But raging in tlie firious fray. 
His victim's eye he bears away. 
And smiling, gives the trophy won 
A plaything to his infant son. (e) 
Small wish, 1 Aveen, had they to dare 
Such combat, or such maiming bare ; 
For when the brain is hurt, 'tis right 
And prudent to preserve the sight ; 
God help the lunatic who, blind, 
His path may sight nor reason find. 

XT, 

At .' not devoid of peril lay 
The numerous windings of their way , 
For hue and cry, their path pursued, 
And busy rumor dogg'd their road ; 
Even that copper-colour'd crew, 
Wiio under Brown the cutlass drew, 



ob BLUE LlUHTSj 

With insults rude and jeer and gibe, 

Attack'd the unoffending ti-ibe ; 

Rais'd o'ertheirheads the vengeful Imife, 

And thi-eaten'd them with loss of life ; (/} 

With savage jest and mockery slight, 

They forc'd them from the couch to 'light; 

And through the fogs of morning dew 

Their lonely journey to pursue ; 

Till on the spot u'here Lingan fell. 

And Hanson rais'd the funeral yell, 

That seat of lire, and mobs and slaves, 

Of pestilence and rage and graves, 

At length was keen enquiry crost, 

Unknown they fled, their path was lost. (g-) 

xir. 

Long since the Jewish monarch said, 

Train up a child as lie should go. 
And when old age lias bleach'd his head? 

He will the self-same path pursue ; 
Ah, little thought the royal sage, 
Tn after times would come an age 
That should his foresight keen defy, 
And coiitradict his prophecy; 
Yet such, alas ! the mournful trvth. 
Witness New-England's hardy youth, 
Whose tender years have pass'd below 
The Presbyterian parson's brow, 
Who shrunk beneath the teacher's bii'ch^ 
Was regularly flogg'd to church, 



OR THE CONVENTION. 

And tauijht to lliink all earthly cviJ 
Arose from democrat, or Devil ; 
Scarcely arriv'd to years mature, 
They quit their native co:^iitry's shore, 
To realms beneath the -wcstcru sky, 
Like Lot from Sodom, swift Ihey liy ; 
Or seek the climate of the south, 
Rather than live from hand to nioutlr; 
There putf'd with wealth, in high diidain. 
Like Balaam's ass refuse the rein, 
Forgetful of the good old school. 
And strengthen the I'epublic's rule. 

XIIL 

In vain the holy scriptures taught, 
Man's chick-st duty was to fear 
The annuinted head in deed and tljough;. 

And principalities revere ; 
In vain thy ruius-, Sparta, stand 
A reuip.c for a ruffian band; 
Sad warning of the awful fate, 
DoomM to republics soon or kite 5 
While monarchies, through nvany an age. 
Survive old Time's \ iiulictive rage ; 
And even though rottcji to the core, 
Bloom like a harlot of threescore. 
Still have our sons the downv. ard road 
Of den:ioc ratio faith pursued, 
And taught by sophists, still dechirt 
All nien by r.alure cqviol air. 



iS BLUE LlGHTb-^j 

In vain the primal law of Heaven', 
To Adam erst in Eden given ; 
With all his strength to multiply 
On earth the human progeny ; 
Our pious citizens pursue, 
With strict obedience just and true, 
Whilst rove our sons in foreign land?, 
A.nd leave our daughters on our hand's, 

XIV. 

Oh would those golden times again 

On earth return our souls to cheer. 
When fire and famine swept the plain, 

Obedient to the righteous prayer ; 
When holy prophets took the sword 
In wrath, and calling on the Lord, 
Mid the Philistines far and near. 
Wrought out conviction, death, and fear ; 
When Agag's limbs in pieces hewn. 
By Samuel to the ground were thrown ; 
And when, where Moses' laws were found, 
Gather'd the sons of Aaron round ; 
When in the face of civil law, 
A priest the penal sword might draw, 
And hew, like Samuel, to the ground. 
Religion's foes, wherever found. 
True in our western world began 
This primal government of man, 
And still the present race retains 
Of Jewish CO Je some nns]'^ renr+in- ■ 



OR THE CONVENTION. 89 

i 

jpor aa of old was Aaron found, 
Ih links of love to Moses bound ; 
Bo here the law and church combine, 
n compact civil and divine ; 
If et small, God wot, the honor paid, 
n latter day?, to either trade ; 
\iid priests and lawyers, now and tlien, 
^e thought to be no more than men. 

XV. 

kVhen Heaven in vengeance strikes the blow. 

On humble worth, how light we feel 
bmpassion's pang-, for well we knov^'^, 

That such can either beg or steal. 
?ut hovering o'er the reg^l head, 
Vhen fall the bolts of vengeance dread • 
jlcarcely may piety refrain, 
ternal justice to arraign ; 
^nd harilly tears can fail to flow, 
i\' hen crazy monarchs wail their woe. 
Tate to tke sceptre and the crown, 

Allots no more than mortal doom ; 
Vitness the Hebrew monarch's groan, 

And proud Belshazzar's timeless tomb. 
Ml ! woeful was that monarch's fate, 
^'ho, torn at once from throne anrl state, 
j'or sustenance was doom'd to chew 
The grass that on the common grcv/ ; 
A^hen heaven, in mercy to mankind, 
Save him a body like liis naind ; 
E* 



90 BLUE LIGHTsj 

The one to beastly vices true, 
The other foul and filthy too. 
'Tis said that from his regal skin, 
Rose leprous scales and hair unclean ; 
That from the stream at which he drunk. 
The cleanly ox and heifer shrunk ; 
That scarce the ass would pass that wa} , 
To quench his thirst on summer day ; 
And even the swine, in beastly pride, 
Strove hard to gain the windward side- 

XVI. 

Alas ! such doom, had fate prepar'd 
For common men, and monarch's spar'd, 
For childish deed and 'wilder'd head, 
We o'er our king no tears had shed ; 
Nor had the jacket strait been lac'd 
Around the good old sovereign's waist ; 
Nor o'er his back had surgeon harsh 
Applied tlie keen prescriptive lash, 
Nor clay-cap cool, nor bhster's pain, 
Been spent upon his head in vain. 
Vain from the lapse of fifty years, 
The regal jubilee appears ; 
If in his patriarchal day, 
He must a bedlamite decay ; 
Of all his scanty sense bereft. 
To nurses and physicians left ; 
No Laureat bard his praise to forge, 
No bishop to apply the scourge : (k) 



OR THE CONVENTION. 9i 

XVII. 

kliat then remains ? To weep and pray, 

Alas I is all we now can do, 
\.nd wait that blest millennial day, 

Which future years shall bring to view, 
fes, though discomfited and crost, 
3ur present prospects all are lost; 
Fhat spark enlivening is not dead, 
^Vhose brilliant beam our party led, 
Zo\d in the dust when we shall lie, 
fhat spark shall light our progeny 
Along the self-same path, and lead 
Dur daring sons to happier deed. 

Farewd, my lyre ! to silent shades I go. 
Remote from all the busy haunts of men ; 

No more in music shall thy numbers flow, 
Nor wake my soul to extacy again. 

Embosom'd deep in woods, I go to wield 

The sounding axe, and tame the stubborn soil, 

JThere shadowy eve shall find me in the field, 
And morning light me to my usual toil. 

Yet if, perchance, oh lyre ! in future years, 

Some brother bard should stumble on my verse^ 

Tell him the taie of penitential tears, 

And all thv master's mournful doom rehearse. 



92 BLUE LIGHTS, (SzTC 

Tell him where broad Ohio rolls his wave, 

I go the sugar-maple tree to drain ; ,^ 

Tell him beneath such tree perchance my gray©,'' 
In sad memorial, shall for years remain. 

Tell him rebellion's paths with care to shun, 
Nor mix in scenes where poet ne'er should stray 

So he his destin'd course may safely run, 
Nor for the shovel, cast his lyre away. 



Kyj^ OF CA^?TO FOURTH. 



NOTES 



CANTO FIRST, 



NOTES. 



NOTES TO CANTO FIRST. 



(a) Page 18. 
IVii/ fields, O IVcatliersfield of yore, 
That many a pungent onion bore. 

In the village above mention'd, there seems to be a 
kind of annua! excitement among the inhabitants, es- 
pecially the younger class, when the customary crop of 
onions is to be gathered, probably owing to the stimu- 
lating qualities of the aforesaid vegetable. At this sea- 
son, they enjoy all the luxury and festivity that the 
Datives of nhlder climates do at their vintage. The 
attractions of the young ladies are at that time irresis- 
tible, and the susceptibility of the gentlemen increas- 
ed in an equal degree ; the natural consequences are a 
number of marriages. 

A singular fact concerning this village, was commu- 
nicated to the author, by a young gentleman, who had 
taught school there for some time. He assei-ts that ai. 
the time of weeding their onions, the knees of the la- 
dies acquire a peculiar roughness, and in testimony of 
the fact, quoted the following fragment of an old ballad. 



^^6 NOTES 



The women's kiiees 



Are rough as shag-bark walnut trees.'' 
When other proofs were called for, though he said 
he had others, he never would produce them ; and what 
iiey were, the author is utterly unable to diviiw. 

(b) Page 23. 
Hence rising in his bright career 
Tecumsehy now a Brigadier. 
This warrior, it is generally known, received the 
commission of Brigadier General in the English service 
on certain conditions. These conditions were, doubt- 
less, no other than bringing a certain number of Ame- 
rican scalps ! His union with the princess would, un- 
tloubtedly, have taken place, had he lived. In this the 
good policy of the couit of St. James was evident, for 
besides bringing with him the abovementioned scalps, 
{ which are there considered as an invaluable com- 
-modity ) his alliance would have tended greatly to im- 
prove the breed of royalty, now generally acknow- 
ledged to be pretty well run out. 

(c) Page 25. 

Ji nobler spoil should India yield, 

JVeu) taxes fertilise the field. 

From the days of Hastings and Wall, this unhappy 

country, (India) has been the chief field for the exercise 

of English extortion and inhumanity. The man who, 

wit.'-snut feelings of rage, and wishes of vengeance, 

can rtad the horrid accounts of theft and conflai'-ation, 

murder and famine, which the English have caused in 



TO CANTO FIRST. 57 

hat country, must either be a resident in Change-alley, 
)r a nitmbcr of the honorable East India Company. 
n tlie history of England, the lust, avarice, and bar- 
parity of Kirke, are no phenomena, but the feelings of 
jn English mob prevent such excesses from being com- 
mon in Groat Britain. It is to their colonies that we 
■nu:jt look for the genuine character of the British no- 
jiiity, where some Right Honorable bastard has it in 
lis power to exercise all tlie petty venom of his raalig- 
iant spirit. 

( d ) Page 26. 

TFlience many a shoe-string strong is torn, 

And many a razor strap is bom. 

It was current in many of the London papers, that 

fvhen Tecumseh was slain, sundry straps were cut 

■l-om liis skin for the above use. The strictest enquiry, 

lowever, having been made among the most eminent 

nights of the comb, we are unable to discover any 
peculiar virtue in an Indian's hide, for giving a fine 
idge to a razor, unless such a quality is acquired from 

he bears' grease and ochre with which their skins are 
50 completely saturated. These strips must undoubt- 
bdly have been cut out for the purposes of shoe-strings, 
Dr used in the manner of an eel skin for binding up a 
queue ; or twisted, as the New Englanders manufac- 
ture the skins of woodchucks into whip-lashes. Qii€7-ey 
as the hide of an Indian, by reason of exposure to the 
Itveather and the constant use of grease, &c. is remark- 
jably tough, as well as pliant, would not a cat-o-nine- 
tail j, made from it, be a great accjuisition to a British 



$S NOTES 

man of war ? This suggestion was occasioned by hear 
ing- an English lieutenant observe, that more hemp Ava 
^vhipp'd out in hi? Majesty's ships of war in these in 
strunients of correction, than would be necessary t 
rig all the American navy. 

( c ) Page 27. 
TTpon thy grave, layncnted Pierce ! 
Thy inouming country drops ihc tear. 
This text needs no conunent. It is sriinply necessar 
to mention, that witiiin our own waters, a citizen wa 
wantonly slain, and no adequate atonement made^ 

(/) Page 29. 
IjCI the dark Scorpion^shzdk narrate 
The dismal tah of English halt ; 
Her horrid scenes Id Jersey tell, 
And mock the shades v;here demons diixU. 
Tiie American I'cader need not be lemiuded, tha 
these are the names oftwo prison ships, statioucil nea. 
JNcw- York, during the revolutionary war. The cruel 
ties practised oa board of them, AviU, in all probability 
never be effaced fi'om the minds of the American peo 
]>le. An account of them, however trite the relatior 
may have become, still forms a prominent feature h 
die annual addresses commeinorative of our Indepen- 
dence, and the impression made by it, is staujj^ec 
deeper and decj)('r. A gentleman who uas for some 
I hfte a prisoner on board one of thesf: ships, informi- 
the aud}or, that numbers ot' men, after ha\iiig d 
throu£:h mere want, v/ere thrown on. tlic ice al u liitle 



TO CANTO F1K!5T. 99 

3ijtaace from the vessel, and there suffered to remain, 
tjotwithstanding their friends on board entreated that 
^ey might be sunk. That tliis might have been 
lone without any inconvenience, is e\ idenl from the 
circumstance, that the ice was regularly cleared a^vay 
p-ora around the vessel to a \vidth sufficient to prevent 
he escape of the prisoners ! 

I As the idea of poison having been employed is sug- 
;ested in the poem, the audior thinks th.erc are sutR- 
ient reasons to declare it is no fiction. Tlie medical 
[ssassin who attended the prisoner, administered it. 
i specimen of his practice may not be uninteresting to 
he American faculty. This son of Galen, in his daily 
Qund, was constantly attended by a servant \vho ear- 
ned, in one hand, a basin coutai;;ing a whitish solu- 
ion, and in the other, a kind of conserve. Such vv^as 
he skill of the doctor, that he never needed to make 
ay enquiries respecting symptoms, etc. but directed, 
rst the " solution, and tlien the bolus ;" and so on, 
Alternately, until both were exhausted. I'^liat the 
)lution, and wha.t the bolus were, is not knosvn, but 
\ is ascertained that the bolus produced a xevy deep 
ieep, and numbers, after taking the solution, died 
dth all the symptoms of the Devonshire cholic. 

(g-) Page 30. 

Ye lowers august oft^acrcd Yale. 

Yale College at IVewhavt i), is the seminary to which 

fe are so much indebted for ih^u swarm of Divines, 

lawyers. Physicians, Schoolmastei's, Surveyors, &c. 

c. which deluge the Eastern States, and who, 



100 NOTES 

wherever they plant themselves, are sure to estaWisl 
the received doctrines of the College, both in politic 
and religion. In this seminary, it has been confidentl 
asserted that the art oi magic has been secret! 
taught ; and good reason there is for such a suspicion 
for the author has himself known an honest shoemake' 
transformed into an especial good clergyman, merel 
by spending a few months at that seat of science ; an 
many a laborer, in like manner, rise to the dignity ( 
teaching a district school. To such characters as thes 
the village manufacturers of tin-ware, and wooder 
bowls, look up with a degree of reverence scarcel 
credible. It is to these men we are indebted for ot 
" steady habits." They are the men who convince i 
that we are the most enlightened, most enterprisint 
moral set of beings under tJie sun, and warn us froi 
mixing with the hot-headed, cotton-planting, negn 
driving, inhabitants of the south. It is to them we ai 
indebted for the establishment of that salutary quarai 
tine among the industrious traders of Connecticu 
who in their annual peregrinations to the south, can 
on a lucrative commerce in old rags and pewter, viz. 
purify themselves, on their return, by tarrying thrf 
days at a tavern, and devoting a tythe of their profi 
to Bacchus. Though this may savor something of ^ 
pagan institution, it is on the whole very beneficia 
inasmuch as they thereby have an opportunity of shal 
ing off any bad habits which they may have acquire 
on their journey, before they return to the bosom ' 
their familiesi 



TO CANTO FIRST. 101 

(h) Page 31. 
Eaplain old Codes and ivisely sheio 
The good ejects oj" statutes blue. 

As this excellent code of laws has never, we bc- 
ieve, been committed to the press, the author has, with 
nfinite pains, obtained a few extracts from it, princi- 
pally for the benefit of our western brethren. It has 
been observed with regret that the New-England emi- 
rants are fast changing their sentiments in point of 
religion and politics, and as they wax fat in those fer- 
tile tracts, they not only like Jeshuren " kick against 
he Lord," but secede from all the established political 
reeds of their fathers, denying the supremacy of their 
jarent states, becoming rank democrats, and being a 
usty thriving race, propagation among them is so 
apid, that they are fast destroying the balance of pow- 
r, greatly to the discomfiture of New-England ; it be- 
ng a known fact that Connecticut, Rhode-Island, &c. 
lave not nearly the weight of inlluence in the national 
ouncils which they formerly possessed. Were emi- 
grants to obtain copies of thtse laws, we believe the 
■ank growth of republicanism in the western country 
night in some degree be checked. 

1st. Whosoever kisseth his wife on the Sabbath da}-, 
hall be fined in the sum of three shilings and four 
bnce, or in default thereof shall receive at the post, 
prty stripes, save one. 

2d. Whoso in defiance of the laws of this colony, 
hall infringe on the simplicity of the inhabitants, by 
t?Taching the females of said colony, the art of making 



102 NOTES 

a certain luxurious dl-'h called " apple pye," shalll 
fined in a sum not exceeding; seven shillings and s 
pence, or in default thereof shall be banished to Pro^ 
dence plantations. 

3d. Whereas it appears there be divers men in tl 
colony, given to the Immoderate use of tobacco, it 
strictly commanded that all such confine themselves 
the use of two quids in the day ; nor shall any tobact 
be che\ved %vithin one mile of the meeting house, n 
after the going down of the sun on Saturdaj- night, t 
the Monday morning following, on pain of the offe 
dcr's being put into the public stocks for the space 
one hour and an half, or such other punishment as tl 
court shall deem proper. 

4th, Whosoever shall be convicted of profai 
swearing, shall have the oath of which he was co 
victcd, written on his hat WMth chalk, for the space 
one week, and for the second offence, shall stand wi 
his tongue in a split stick until the going down of t] 
sun. 

5lh. The inhabitants of this colony are command< 
to aijstuin from all cheating, and are enjoined to pr 
serve the strictest integrity and honesty in all tht 
dealings ; except with the Indians. 

6th. All cracking of nuts, eating of apples, andsui 
like unbecoming amusements, are sti-icth^ forbidde 
during the time of divine service, as being highly r 
pugnant to ecclesiastical discipline ; and the congreg 
tion are pa''ticularly desired to abstain from all ind 
rent and unnecessary noises, such as scraping with tl 
fctt, blo'.viug tile noie. and other unseemly practice 



TO GANTO riRST. 103 

Ttli The women of the colony are recoinmondcd to 
J cautious in wearing-, at the meeting house, goig-eous 
ippare!, such as partj-colourcd ribbons, &c. thereby 
h-awing the attention of the men from the sermon. 

Al'ter these specimens of the wisdom of the New- 
laven lawgivers, we need not be surprised at the 
loui-ishing state of the colony at that period. In truth, 
lice was obliged to hide her head; and except that 
he women would wear particoloured ribbons, and the 
len use an undue proportion of molasses in their 
svitchel, (there being no penal statute in that case 
lade and provided) they persuaded themselves that 
ley were the most virtuous people under Heaven. 

(0 Page 32. 

■ The patrons oj the Birch, 

And reverend Fathers of the church. 
We have already mentioned that (he influence the?e 
o classes of mou possess ovov the minds of the people 
(Connecticut, is very great, particularly the district 
icher, who rul?.s the boys, who rule their mothers, 
ho rule the men, who rule the roast. The minister 
sometimes thwarted in his dc.v'gas ; the teacher, if 
! manages prudently, nevt r. \n one of our villages, a 
vine had called together his ilock, for the pupose of 
sting and prayer, for the success of the Ha, tford Con- 
infion, as by them recommended, when a magistrate 
•csent, who did not think the house of God a proper 
ace to agitate party questions, or pray for the divi- 
jn of the United States, gave notice that if ivh ex- 
cises were attempted there, be should immediately 



104 NOTES 

call a meetins; to see if the parish would dismiss, the 
preacher. The hint had the proper eftect. This how 
ever is a solitary instance. 

(k) Page 22. 

And charged each simple rustic SGul, 

From EnrUi. to rend that cursed pole. 

A pole with a cap on it, ho^vevcr innocent it may 1 

in iiself, is regarded by the ruling (that is the voyali 

party) as an object of peculiar danger, and loolce 

upon with the greatest abhorrence. 

(/) Page 33. 
Then land beloved above ihj/ ground, 
.Vo stubborn quaker shell be found. 

Massachusetts and New-Haven colonies were moi 
cruel towards the qunkers, than cither Connecticut i 
Plymouth; of the fuur, Connecticut was the most m 
derate. The general ; mirt of Ncw-Kaven, in one tho 
sand six hundred and fifty eight, passed a severe la 
against the quakers. 

They introduced their law, which was copied fro 
the act of the commissioners of the colony, with th 
preamble — 

Whereas there is a cursed sect of heretics, late 
sprung up in the world, commonly called quaker 
who take upon them, that diey are immediately se 
from God, and infallibly assisted by the spirit, who y 
speak and write blasphemous opinions, despise gover 
:nent, and the order of God, in church and corarao 
\ve^.'t^^ sx-akingevil of dignities, &.?- 



TO CANTO FIRST, 105 

Ordered, That whosoever sliall bring-, or cause to be 
hought, any known quaker or quakers, into this colj?* 
hall forfeit the sum of fifty pounds. Also, if a qua- 
;r come, into this jurisdiction on civil business, the 
ine of his stay shall be limited by the civil authority, 
id he shall not use any means to corrupt or seduce 
ihcrs. On his first arrival, he shall appear before a 
agistrate, and from him receive license to pass on hig 
isiness, and (for the better prevention of hurt to the 
;ople) have one or more persons to attend upon him 
his own charge, &c. The punishments, in case ot' 
^obedience, were whipping, imprisonment, labor, 
id a deprivation of all converse with any person. 
For the second offence, the person was to be brand- 
l in the hand with the letter H, to suffer imprison- 
pnt, and be put to labor. For the third, to be brand- 
I in the other hand, imprisoned, &c. as before. For 
|e fourth, the offender was to have his tongue bored 
rough with%. red hot iron, imprisoned, and kept tc 
ibor until sent away at his own charge. Any person 
Jio shall attempt to defend the sentiments of the qua^ 
prs, shall for the third offence, be sentenced io ban- 
fiment. But these people, (continues the author from 
^ose Geography the above is quoted) who have been 
much censured and ridiculed, had perhaps as 
^any virtues as their posterity ; and it would be wise 
the moderns, who stand elevated on the shoulders of 
,eir ancestors, with the book of their experience open 
jfore them, to improve from their virtues and to veil 

eir faults. Kide Morsels Geography — Srtich 

qnnecticvA. 

F 



106 NOTES, &;c. 



The i-emark of Dr. Morse, that the anGestors of t 
ihhabitfvnts of New-Haven possessed as much virt 
as their posterity do at present, is, we beh'eve, stric 
true, and implies, though unintentional, as sever< 
censure on the latter, as even malignity itself coi 
wish. In bigotry, the living and the dead are, perha 
coequal. The old leaven remains, though its power 
action is restrained. Were it not too melancholy a si 
ject for laughter, it would be truly ludicrous, to wal 
tlie conduct of our pious ancestors. Flying themseli 
from persecution, they had no sooner escaped < 
fangs of ecclesiastical discipline, than commenci 
tyrants, in their turn, they fell zealously to work, 
order to root out every heretical custom and opinif 
not by " teaching- the truth in love," but by means 
fines and stocks, and imprisonment, and torture. T 
shameful scourging of the quakers at New-London, 
a scandalous set of riotous young men, or rati 
brutes, was lenit}', compared with the sufferings othi 
underwent from the arm of the law, aided and abetf 
by many who styled themselves ministers of the chi 
tian religion. 



-END Of notes to canto first. 



iSfOTES 



CANTO SECOND. 



NOTES, 



NOTES TO CANTO SECOND 



(a) Page 41. 

The Bard whose glowing line 

Informs us hotv our j)lanet rose. 
From shells, &c. 
Dr. Danvin is the bard alluded to. For the project 
mentioned in the poem, as well as many others, equal- 
ly useful, splendid, and feasible, we refer our readers 
to the " Botanic Garden" and " Temple of Nature." 

An incident alluded to in the poem strikingly marks 
the coolness and self-possession of tlie poetical philoso- 
pher. His son, a young man of most promising talents 
and great acquirements, had long labored muter a 
pielancholic disposition, from what cause is not known; 
ef the means used by the doctor for the removal of the 
malady, we are equally ignorant, but whatever they 
were, they failed of success; and shortly after, the 
young man drowned himself in a stream that ran at 
the bottom of his father's garden. When the body was 
recovered and brought iato tbe garden, the only mark 



no NOTES 

of attention bestowed on it by the philosophic parent, 
was, to cast upon it a contemptuous glance, accompa* 
nicd with the tender exclamation, " poor coward !" 
Fide Life of Darioin'. 

(b) Page 42. 
Where Copenhagen^ wrapt injlamey 
Shall long remember Jackson's name. 
A3 we conceive it highly important that the name 
of Jackson should be remembered as long as possible 
in the United States, we beg leave to record it here, 
that this same " Copenhagen Jackson" was the minis- 
ter so uncivilly dismissed a few years since by the 
.'\morican Government. 

(0 PageA2. 
.^lid rain and snow and ivindand sleety 
I a covering slight ofhvmhum sheet. 
'The auihor is aware, that in equipping his ghostly 
-:>^,ntinel in this slight kind of uniform, he has evident- 
ly trospaised on tiiC rules of that great master of poe- 
try and. necromancy, Walter Scott, esq. who as an 
nudoubted descendant of Michael, (or as he was called 
in Spain, ^ligucl) must of course be thoroughly ac- 
quainted with the ghostly costume, which he constant- 
ly affii-ms to be a linen robe, sometimes black, but 
most commonly white, for the purpose, as we suppose, 
cf being more easily distinguished in the dark. In sub- 
stituting humhum for Irish linen, e\erj one must per- 
ceive the motives, not only those of economy, but to 
encourage the naanufacture, andconaime the prodvfCt 



TO CANTO SECOND. Ill 

of our own country ; indeed, we have been informed 
by a learned correspondent, a " great law character," 
ithat divers honorable Judges and Justices of the 
Ij^cace, have been constrained, by reason of the liigh 
price of linen, to wear cotton shirts; nay, even the 
parsons themselves, notwithstanding they preach 
about the linen vestment of Aaron, have done the 
same, thereby setting an example to the "purveyor of 
ghostly supplies," who at such a hint would doubtless 
array his airy battalions in the same article, and with 
which we think an American ghost ougiit to be very 
well satisfied. 

The author was inform^'d bv an aged gentleman, 
then upwards of eiglity, asid \vho tVoni his youth had 
been an inhabitant of Taunton, that when he was 
about sixty years of age, he liad the satisfaction of re- 
ceiving a vi-^it tVoin iii^ grau'^niother's shac'p, who 
came, it ?t tnis, for tlic chaiitiiblv^ purpcie of advising 
him to undertake the herring xiiiM'ry, p. i .mi-iitg that 
iho nc^;! season would be re}nai:;:il)'y ■ i ii';;! lo. 

The description he gave of the ol i lady, was as fol- 
Fows : 

" She cams to me one n.ight, wl-.en the moon shone. 
very cleaily, and she looked exactly as she did in her 
lite-time, only she looked much taller and thinner; 
neither could I observe that her no--e had the marks of 
snuff on it, as was al« ays the case during her life. Her 
clothes were such as I remember to have seen her 
wear during her life, only she had on a wtiite hum- 
hum gown, with a white turbo n of the same stuff ob 
her head, which I never knew her (o -near befovSi 



112 



NOTES 



besides which garment:^, I know not that she had qI 
any clothes at all, as her feet were bare, and looked 
marvellous blue, a circumstance which I attributed to 
her constantly wearing, for a long time, a pair of blue 
stockiags, which had been presented her formerly, 
when on a visit to her friends in Connecticut." 

The above correct and lucid narration, puts the pro- 
priety of this dress out of all manner of doubt, and in 
my opinion fully establishes the fact, that ghosts do, at 
times, wear humhum. 

(d) Page 43. 
That oft departed friends appear, 
At midnight hour, we know full well. 
Perhaps there is no superstition (if such it may be 
called) more generally prevalent, than that of depart- 
ed spirits revisiting the earth. This idea has as much 
exercised the anxious researches of the philosopher, 
as it has excited the wild imagination of the unculti- 
vated savage. The herculean mind of Dr. Johnson 
gave way to the impression, and he contemplated the 
subject with as much reverence as the inhabitant of 
Greenland, who prepares the banquet for his visionary 
visitor at the launching of his canoe. In scripture his- 
tX)ry, the appearance of the prophet Samuel, has fur- 
nished a testimony on the subject that will endure as 
long as time itself; and the iiistorian has hitherto been 
unaole to ^Wg a satisfactory explanation of the visions 
Of Brutus and Dion. For popular opinions that have 
been universally entertained for ages, however singu- 
lar they may appeal-, there must originally have bem 



TO CANTO SECOND. llS 

some foundation ; and the satirist may sneer, and the 
philosopher reason against them in vain, for Hke the 
giant of pagan fable, when dashed to the ground, 
they acquire new ibrce and rise again with renovated 
Vigor.. 

(e) Page 45. 

Let hhn but stray, 

Where Salem lifts her steeples gay. 

"TL'he following are specimens of the candor ana 
liberality of si'ntiments prevalent among the inhabi- 
tants of this celebrated town. They are quoted from 
the Geography of the celebrated Dr. Moi'se, alias 
*' the inspired Jcdcdiah." " There is a very hand- 
some markct-liousc at Salem, having a second story, 
intended as a public room. One of the managers of the 
Boston Theatre, a few years since, appHed to the pro- 
prietors, to rent it to him for twenty years, as a Thea« 
tre, offering to finish it at his ov,-n expense, and to pay 
high rent for it. The proprietors met and considered 
the proposal, and returned liim for answer, that they 
w^ould sooner set the building on fire. An answer (con- 
tinues tlie doctor) deserving of perpetual remem- 
brance, and universal imitation." 

" The melancholy delusion of one thousand six hun- 
dred and ninety-two, originated m the family of the 
Rev. Mr. Paris, the then minister, and here was the 
principal theatre of the bloody business. At the up- 
per end of the town, at a place called, from the number 
of executions which took place there, Gallows-Hill, 
the graves of tlw. unhappy sufferers may -^-Qi he 



1 1 4 NOTES 

;traced. Though this Tinhappy business was chieflj'^J 
-transacted hero, it is well known, that tlie leading- peo- 
ple, both of church and state, in the colony, took an 
active part in it. 

" Unjust, therpfore, and highly ^.absurd is it, to fix a 
peculiar odium on the town of Salem, for wliat was the 
■g-eneral weakness or crime of the country. While the 
sarcastic smile is exi ited among the vain and unthink- 
ing, or the insulting abuse of illiberal prejudice is un- 
justly thrown on this shocking tragedy, the serious 
cannot but lament to find the human mind subject to 
such gross deceptions, and the man of candor will j 
Lasten to drop the curtain on the disnial scene." — Kide ' 
.Morse's .-imericaii Ceogrnpht/, article Massachu- 
setts. 

We have quoted the doctor's words literally, and 
v/hatever veneration we rr.ay h?<\e for his talents or 
ju igmcnt, we cannot agree with him in calling that 
an " illiberal prejudice" which excites the honest in- 
dignation and horror of a fi f 'ing heart, at the terrible 
recital. We cannot think that these things ought to be 
buried in oblivion. They should be remembered as \ 
awful examjjles of oigotry and tyranny, nor should the 1 
sal tale ever be told, without mentioning that the in- 
human actors in this mournful drama themselves, 
so'.ipht these shores foi the avowed purpose of secur- 
ing Tbeir i. il and religious lioerty. 

We beli-'ve Dr. Morse perfectly corre "t in one re- . 
mark, viz. " that the business was not corif;n<-y'. fo the J 
town of Salem, 'Ut that the leading characters, both 6f 
:churcb and state, were active init." 



TO CANTO SEC(£)NK. 115 

(/) Page 44. 
'^V.f yellow hom, ana uov^ ''iis hlnc. 

Blue Lig'his. — Signal iii'es, us. d ou tiiiM!;uard, for 
the purpose of conveying inttliij^tiu''', ;;i\ing ovders, 
&c. in the night. — Fide JS'acI !)(rii(,unrii. 

Tiiisthe author (wiio i:. ,i ijiiilvmaa) beUeves to be 
the coiiiinon signification of the term " bhie iijchts," 
but on this head, wishes to ij.iorni his readers that 
during the late war, when a squadron of L'niled 
States vessels of war, then 1} ii^i;; iu the harbor of a cer- 
tain seaport town in Conneciicut, intended sailing, 
the-e appeared in the air certair. lights, vvliich excited 
much astonishment. A bhower of btones, which had 
fallen a few yeais prior to t'ii.s event, had in some mea- 
sure prepared tliC miudi oft;;'' ;,':ood people of Connec- 
ticut for the reception of piodgiesj but on sight of 
these meteors, they e:-vperienced scn.sations which, 
among so enlightened a people, were hardly to be ex-- 
pected. A tew incredulous people were indeed found, 
who disclaimed all belief of superhuinan agency in 
tlieii' formation ; but the major ])art were eu raged at 
tlie insinuation, and attributing them to the true cause, 
coiisidered them as tokens of divine disapprobation of 
the inicjuitous war in which we were engaged, against 
the " Bulwark of our religion," aiid his majesty, the 
*' defender of the faith." — Certain it is, that t' e ships of 
the enemy lying off the harbor, appeared im ., irru- 
ed, weighed their anchors, stood otfandoa ':■.:.] ,, ihe 
wholctiight, fearing, no doubt, some drcafJ iuirri- 
cancj or perhaps concluding, that the lights served as 



1 1^ -NOTE-S 

signals to direct the course of some Stoaington Tcu. 
pedo, about to pay them a visit. Fortunately, how-, 
ever, the American squadron did not sail, and doubt- 
less, to this cavse it was owing, that the vengeance of 
heaven was delayed ,• of what nature these meteors 
were, we shall not pretend to determine, but quietly 
wait the decision of the faculty of Yale College, who, 
we hope, will shortly favor us with a disquisition on , 
the subject, that will remove all doubts. 

(g) Page 44. 

Beneath whose star the cat is givcfi 

To pacify the Joe of Heaven ; 

.-'hid save from grasp of demon's fist, 

The yotm^gest brother'' s feeble lorist. 
The mysteries practised by the brethren of the ma- 
sonic society, have for ages remained, to the uniniti- 
ated, a source of curiosity and astonishment. Sundry 
stratagems have been employed without effect in ordey 
i.Q discover the mighty secret, and the only hope now 
left the world, centers in the exertions of the present 
King of Spain, who in imitation of the laudable exam- 
ple of Philip the .second, has piously revived the In- 
quisition, and commenced operations, by giving 
several freemasons a slight scorch, in addition to the 
one which popular opinion supposes them to have 
received at their initiation, from the gridiron. 

It is generally allowed, that dunng their incanta- 
tions, they have the power of raising the thunder, and 
that this announce? the approach of an infernal visitor. 
ka citierly \-y}v qi uu.i.lou.btt'.| ve-raeity, wli9 Hv^d ir. 



TO CANTO SECOND. 117 

the neighborhood of a masonic lodge, informed the 
fiuthor, that on such occasions there was always a 
perceptible snjell of sulphur, accompanied by such an 
appearance of the candle flame, as evidently indicat- 
ed that something unholy infected the atmosphere, 
purns, the Scottish bard, author of the beautiful song 
tailed the " Mason's Adieu," himself one of the fra- 
ternity, has, in one of those moments of hilarity, ^o 
common to all poets, thrown more light on the sub- 
ect thajj is to be obtained from any other source- 
The following lines are part of his address to the Detil- 

" When masons' mystic word and grip, 

" By incantations, raise ye up ; 

" Some dog or cat your rage must stop, 

" Or strange to tell, 

^' The youngest brother ye would whap 

*' Off straight to HelL" 

(h) Page 47. 
J?2/ one of proud Sebastian's crew^ 
Whenio ov.r coasts the Spaniard Jlew ; 
An Indian maid, by love beguiVdy 
Had the mishap to prove with child. 
Sebastian Cabot, one of the adventurers who came 
:o America, probably, because he had nowhere else 
:o go. It has been said, (falsely as we are in duty 
)ound to believe) tliat he was somcvhat iiddicted to 
[)irary, 



118 NOTES 

(i) Page 47. 
To write Itio name and read it too. 
It may seem a matter of astouisumeiit, to the erU' 
elite people of Comiecticut, tl)iit a man siiould be abh 
to write his name, aucl still require a greater degree a 
knowledge to be able to read it. Such, however, woulc 
do well to recollect the ingenious device of the mou 
arcli, w'.io Leiiig unable to read or write, had his nam< 
cut through a silver plate, which being laid on pajser 
he could easily sign his name to whatever his courlien 
had a mind to lay before him. What it was, however. 
to which he signed his name, appears to have been g' 
mattel' of perfect indiilerence to him. This cicvice.' 
however ingenious, is still, we think, much inferior tc' 
the sign of the cross, so well Known to the Americat 
justices of the peace, the latter being much more sim-i 
pie, and also, savoring somewhat of a religious econO' 
my. -^1 

(k) Page 50. 
From thence might venture to the moon. 

Notwithstanding the most cartful research has bcetj 
Jiiadc, the author has been unable to discover nion 
than one well authenticated instance of a journey t( 
the moon, f^'or a description of this, we are iadebted. 
as Lui. boanel Thornton informs us, to the celebratet. 
Linnoeus. 

It appears that the seven wise men of Greece, haV' 
ing o ifuscd their brains with some astronomica 
questions, besought Jupiter to allow them a passage t( 



^TO CANTO SECOND. 11-9 

■lie moon, Avhichwas allowed on all hancis <o be a inosl 
xcellent observatory (Greenwich not being at that 
inie erected.) The god being then in a g-ood humor, 
having missed the customary curtain lecture of hie 
poui-e Juno) granted them their request, and direct- 
ig them to repair (o a certain mountain, had tliere in 
adinc^s, a good firm and substantial cloud, such aS 
'ould de Fiver them in " good order and well condi- 
oned.'' We have never been able, as 3'ct, to obtaia 
IP journal of their voyage, and only know they arriv- 
d there safe. Unfortunately for mankind, they were 
"> much taken up with the amusements of tiie place, 
lat on tlieir return, they couid only inform their 
'lends, that the grass was green, and that they heard 
irds singing in the trees ; but what kind of trees Gi- 
rds they were, the travellers were unable to say. 
ide. B. Thornton's letters, to the collectors of coins, 
lineralogists, conchologists and virtuosi. This would 
ave been a very serious misfortune, were it not for the 
ivention of balloon.^, in one of which it is to be hoped 
lat some adventurous aeronaut, some member of the 
oyal Society, will shortly take an excursion to the 
mar metropolis, and as his godship Jupiter has long 
nee been deposed, there will be no need of asking 
is permission, and the invention aforesaid prrciules 
le necessity of depending on him, or any body else, for 
le conveyance of a cloud. 



120 NOTES 

(I) Page 51, 
AndforcH to wear that fatal gown^ 
That laymen call the deviVs oion ; 
On burning scaffold placed on high. 
Aloof might be condemn' d to fry. 
The San J5e«t7o5.— Literally, we believe, " withoui 
a blessing," the garment in which heretics are dressec 
in Spain, when condemned to undergo the punishmen 
of an " auto dofe.''^ 

Philip the second, of catholic memory, was, we think. 
the inventor. The costume is a cap and strait gown o 
canvas, decorated with representations of most hideoui 
devils, armed with pitchforks and other infernal instru; 
ments, poking unhappy sinners into a fire, attended b] 
their imps of a smaller size acting as apprentices, wh( 
i^iirly blow up the flames to a red heat. In paintinj 
these gowns much taste is displayed, and the festiva 
of an aicio dofe, next to a bull fight, is the most agreea 
ble sight to the Spanish court. 

(m) Page 52. 

Full narrowly escap'^d the sack^ 

For in her pocket long ''twas known 

His mother wore that mystic bone, 

JVhich, torn from many a joint of veal, 

The village matrons oft conceal. 

There was at Salem, as we are informed, a very 

curious method practised for the detection of witch 

craft, which was neither more nor less than tying uj 

the suspected person in a bag, and throwing him oi 



TO CANTO SECOxYD. 121 

her into the river; if the person was drowned, wel! 
and good; the innocence of the accused was proved, 
and prayers said by way of recompense ; but if the per- 
son did not drown, it was considered as ample proof of 
^itciicraft, and the unfortunate subject of the experi- 
^lent was most certainly hanged, thereby making 
^ood tlie old proverb " that he who was born to be 
bnged could never be drowned." The bone alluded to 
fe tlie " lucky bone," so common in New-England, and 
,5 no other than the patella of a calf, which if obtain- 
Id at the proper quarter of the moon, possesses consi- 
lerable virtue in regard to the mysteries of foreknow- 
Edge, and as such, was marked out as an object of 
iculiar abhorrence, by our pious ancestors. 
(n) Page 52. 
He too in geographic page 
On this vile land exhaust.^- his rage. 

Vide the geograpliy of the Rev. Mr. P of MaS- 

chuseits. In reading his work, intended, as the au- 
or says, for the use of schools, we are struck with the 
ident pains he takes to degrade his own country, and 
alt the character of Great Britain. This note is 
?rely made for the sake of repeating an old question, 
. why those people in tliis country who are so vio- 
tly attached to the customs and government of 
eat Britain, and so heartily despise the United 
tes, do not remove themselves, and bask in the land 
he " bulwark of our relive .'' -civ '^nth faithful 
i'csasthe gentl..m.v ...o. - J,, '. .' (o, must hyiiiis 
ie be entitled to a benefice or a pension. 



122 NOTES" 

(o) Page 53. 
Among the Washingtonian See>'Si> 
The Washington Benevolent Society broke ov 
at Windsor, and raged as an epidemic through th 
state of Vermont about five years ago. We do not pre 
tend to sav here, what tl^:- objects of the society wer< 
whether '' wicked or charitable," but are unable t 
discover more than two instances of suffering or povei 
ty relieved by their interference. 

(p) Page 53. 

And he ivho erst at Hartford true, 

Plthl up the Mirror to our vierv. 

Of the Mirror and its able editor, it would ill l^econ 

U3 to spea!; here, ^fliat gazette has, during the la 

war, gained the character it so jusdy deserves. 11 

citv of Hartford has long been celebrated as the sist 

of New-IIaven in point of morals, avarice and stca. 

b'.bil-. an>l ha^ for a, long lime borne the proud pi 

eminence of Federalism-" among the erow^, ^ 

darkest cro^v." Possessing all that subtlety which 

absolute! V necessary to enable a man to reside m Cc 

necti.ut,'the inhabitants of that city carry to its hig 

est pitch, that parsimony which is the unfaihcg chan 

f eristic of the " river people." ^ ^i 

It would seem that the inhabitants are considera, 

-iven to prophecy, and their predictions are, in so, 

r..e«, wonderfully fulfilled. 37.6 Echo, a book 

voems published several years ago by a numbej. 

^entlen^en cf Hartford, abounds with these kiud 



J 



1^0 CANTO SECOND-. 123 

^rec^ctions ; we .select the following from an editioii of 

pe iLcho published in 1807, No. 13, 

I Hartford, curst corner of the spacious earth, 
V\ here each dire mischief ripens into birth, 

i Whence dark cabals against our statesmen rise. 
And spread their black'ning clouds o'er eastern skies: 
As events have turned out, these lines, like many 

^lers m the same work, have proved peculiarly ui> 

•tuuate to the authors. 

(q) Page 54. 
There too, I trow, of merry mien. 
Was sm ilmg tin-cart trader seen. 
rhis .s the race mentioned bj- Knickerbocker, as the 
-enders of notions," and pleasant-tongued varlets, 
uns whom the vident old Dutch Governor conceiv' 
such a violent prejudice. 

Ve believe the principal offices of the " Company" 
at Berlin and in its vicinity, at least the author 
iks so, Aom havmg- seen one of the principal carts 
1 this name on its side, surmounted with an armo- 
bearing of three pewter pots, couchant. We are 
hbly informed that the schoolmasters in that vicini 
^acTi their pupils no other rule in arithmetic than 
er, not that the teachers themselves are unac- 
nted with fractions, the double rule of three &c 
laying an eye to the pupil's future mode of gai'nino^ 
^istence^ and it must be confessed, (hey pes 
tierful .kill in transforming tin-ware into old raj 



sess 



124 NOTES kt, 

and rags into pewter, and pewter (whenever they tai 

Sth'^r^x:^^?^^^: 

r-Itallrouna," is considered asad.grace^ 
Lernity, and prohil>ited from pursumg tlK .raffic t 
ensuiug year. 



fi>-D OF NOTES TO CANTO SECiONI^ 



i 



.NOTES 



CANTO THIRI>. 



1 



NOTES, 



NOTES TO GANTO THIRD, 



(a) Pa^e 62. 

And never, at such festive scene, 

Did orator hold forth in vain. 

Eloquence has been said with a great deal of pro- 

briety, to flourish best under a repubhcan g-overnmcnt. 

'erhaps the finest specimens of oratory extant, are 

hose which have been deUvered on the spur of the 

Occasion, to large collections of the populace. In no 

ountry are such collections more frequent, than 

iniong the inquisitive people of New-England. If a 

log runs mad, a chimney takes fire, or a cow breaks 

»ut of pound, these restless and busy people meet, not 

ike the ancient and quiet Burghers of New-Amsterp 

lam, to smoke over the matter, but to talk about it. 

This is one among many causes, why we are so marr 

rellously enlightened. On such occasions, after the 

eneral talk is finished, the crowd splits ofFin parties 

if about half a dozen, each squad having their (mn 



228 NOTES 

orator in the midst, to wiiom they listen with protbund 
attention, in order to qualify themselves for becoming 
orators in other circles. 

But the great and sublime opportunity for an orator 
io signalize himself, and fairly cut out his own road to 
immortality, is the celebration of the fourth of July, 
The speaker's ideas are necessarily exalted, and lii* 
imagination inilaraed by the noise of the canaon and' 
musqwstry of the military, and the pewter guns, squibs, 
and crackers of the populace. After the train-bands 
Lave performed sundry curious evolutions, which we' 
believe peculiar to New-England, because they have' 
never been mentioned by any military/ author, they ad- 
journ " en masse" to the mecting-iiouse, and listen 
to an edifying discourse, the never failing subjects of 
v/hich are, the virtue, fortitude, honor, and simplicity 
of our pious ancesters. On this occasion, orators of 
degrees, enjoy the full privileges of their high calling', 
and tiiey who can talk the longest, gain the most ad- 
herents, the harvest is excellent for quacks, lawyers, 
and lottery makers, " et id omne genus.'*'' 

It is not therefore to be wondered at that the Boston 
messengers, being endowed with a tolerable "gift of 
the gab," and acquainted with the customs of the 
country, .should choose muster days, as proper o'p'pot' 
ftuijtjes fox advancing the good cause,. 



TO CANTO THIRD. 129 

(l>) Page 63. 

Oft would his tatter'' d blanket, shew 

TVhere frequent balls pass'^d ihroi(Q-h and tTirougl\., 

Bore on itself the dinfi/l ivoiind, 

,^nd left the wearer safe and sound. 

There is scarcely a Connecticut forester, possessed 
f any pride of lineage, M'ho canno*. show some such 
ophy, preserved from sire to soxi with religious vene 
ition, which belonged to soue one of hi? ances- 
)rs who fought in the " old French vvar," and whose 
ixploits are the constant theme of the fireside " win- 
pr's tale." Many of these relics which the author has 
sen, are so terribly pierced with bayonet and bullet 
oles, that were not the fact established by the most. 
Espectable tradition, tliere would be room for sup- 
osing that none of mortal mould could have been 
'•rapped in them at the time they were thus mangled, 
nd escape death. 

(c) Page 64. 

— ■ ' Should starry fa g^ 

Benernpt the Yankce^s bunting rag. 
The appellation given by British otncersto the Arac 
jcan national standard, at the commencement of the 
ate war, and which in a few weeks was to disappear 
brever from the ocean. Unfortunately, it floats there 
.till, and has even waved in triumph over the inverted 
Jnion of England. The charm of fancied superiority 
lias been broken, by a nation on whose means of mari- 
time warfare the powers of Europe looked dovvn with 
feontempt, 

G 



130 NOTES 

(J) Page 65. 

And while then shun the adiiancingjoe,, 

Strike the molasses cask beloiv. 
Captain Dacres of the Guerriere, who so vauntuig}; 
carried the name of his frigate in large letters on hi 
fore-topsail, gave orders, before coming to action witl 
the Constitution, to have a cask of molasses brought oi 
his own deck, in order to treat the Yankees with thei 
fevorite beverage, switchel, as by his reckoning thej 
would be on board his vessel in about 15 minutes. I: 
was afterwards observed by an English sailor, that in^ 
stead of making switcl»el of themolasse?^ the Yankee! 
had converted it into black strap. 

(") Page G6. 
Save he, the bull-dog of the nine , 
1T'hose%it//ig, kcc:i, sarcastic liiic^ 
Bij regal po ici: r as i/t t unhtnt :■ i 

Was ne''er in adnhiiion spent. 
Peter Pindar, calk-d by Mrs. Robinson the cur dog 
of the muses. We have always considered him as a dog 
of a different ?j).cie=, and as one that could bite, and 
seveivly too, as iv<!i as snarl, when he felt inclined. At 
any rale, be he mongrt'l, niastiilf, or what not, he is 
,'5U!vcrsalb- allowed to be a droll dog. 

(/) Pagem. 

And, here the vul P. ring parson preaches 

Oycrying sins. o.,id crimson breeches. 

It is, as we belie\ c, aa established fact, that the cel^f 

bratedMr. Jefferson, formerly President of the United 



i 



T0 CANTO THIRD, 131 

State?, not having- the fear of Cod before his f>yes, did 
wickedly and feloniously array himself in a pair of i-ed 
jbreeches. We conceive this circumstance, of itself, a 
sufficient reason for all the mishaps under which tlie 
country labored during his administration, without 
taking into the question the unseemly and indecorouis 
practice of " hitching- his horse to a post." 

The unfortunate circumstance of Mustapba Keli 
Khan's not beuig able to obtain a pair of small-clothes 
from the American government during his captivity, 
must, as we suppose, be owing to his not having men- 
tioned, in his petition, any particular color. We are 
credibly informed, that the president was, at that time, 
violently bent on bringing his favorite color into 
fashion, and probably concluded, the readiest means 
would be to discourage all others, and in consequence 
was detennin.-d that our government should furnish no 
prisoners with breeches except tkey were of his favo- 
rite color. Had his project succeeded, the conse- 
quences would have been deplorable ; for philosophers 
have assured us, that a man's temper and disposition 
depend greatly on the color and fashion of his gar- 
ments. Witness the beau, wh(we levity and self-com- 
placency rises or falls in proportion to ih(> quantity of 
jstarch on his collar or blacking on his .shoeS ; (he meek 
mechanic who, when clad in a leather apron, is perfect- 
ly " void of oflence," arrayed on a r(-vie\v day in the 
habiliments of war, becomes a second Hector ; and we 
arc astonished that the great Knickerbocker, who so 
truly described the gravity, and coolness, and niudera 



132 NOTES 

tion of his progenitors, has never mentioned the proxiJ 
mate cause, viz, that ten pair of breeches, by increas- 
ing the heat of the lower extremities, causes a surpris- 
ing" derivation from the brain. As we intimated above, 
the project fortunately failed, and for this we are 
chiefly indebted to the gentleman alluded to in the 
poem, vv'ho preached, prayed, and sung hj^mns againsi 
the article of apparel in question : and to this day the 
modest dvab of (he quaker bids defiance to the dust ; 
the thunder and lightning, corderoy, and fustian of our 
fathers, s<ill maintain their grotind, nor is the eye 
oflended by any indecorous breeches, excepting now 
and then, a militia general, who on particular occa- 
sions sports a pair of brimstone-coloured ones, of as 
deep and inveterate a shade as were those of old hard 
Koppig Pict. 

(g) Pagem. 
Who kindly give ihe poor a coat, 
And, in return, demand a vote. 
It is customary, in many places, to give mone^ 
*3penly for a man's vote. This is certainly rank bribC'^i 
ry, and as such must appear highly criminal to th^ 
orthodox inhabitants of Connecticut. There they 
manage things better ; as the federal party in that state 
have monopolised all the wealth as well as talents o| 
the commonwealth, they possess the greatest advan-; 
tage over the poor republicans, who are glad to keep, 
their coats when they can get any, as long as they 
will wear. This party-art consists in making a poor- 
voter a present of a second-hand coat or other g^r- 



TO CANTO THIRD. 133 

ment, a few tlays previous to the day of giving- in the 
vom-i. This fiivuinsiance sometimes gives occasion 
;6 Diis'laKes of person, as in the towns of Connecticut, 
tho inhaoitonts are as much acquainted with each 
>ther by iheir dress as by their faces. A friend of 
nine informed rac, that walking one day in the puljhc 
itrcet, lie overtook the coat of a celebrated judge of his 
icquaiatance, and in passing, pulled off' his hat in 
:okcn of that obeisance which every schoolboy is 
;aught to pay to the powers that be ; on looking round, 
lowever, he recognised the visage of an honest wood- 
hopper, wlio was posting away to exercise the privi- 
egcs of an American freeman. 

(/i) Page 67. 
The har-roomJilVd. 
These rooms are known to all the world, as the 
lurseries of politics, the hot-beds of genius ; and have 
ong been celebrated in New-England as the most 
proper places of resort, for a young man to acquire a 
cnowlcdge of the world, and a due confidence in him- 
self. 

(0 Page&l. 
JVo pestilence is stalking forth, 
JVo spotted/ever siveeps the north. 
We have heard much of Madison's war, Madison's 
conscription, and lately, of Madison's plague, which 
las been considered as an especial judgment of hea- 
ren on the southern states, for having wickedly sup- 
sorted tJie President iohis contest with Great Britair. 



134 NOTES 

Believing, as we certainly do, that such dreadful dis* 
eases are sent on earth as punishments for national 
trespasses, we most cordially believe, the plague al- 
luded to, to have been let loose for that purpose. 

The only reason we have to stagger us in our belief, 
is an utter inability to discover for what sins the 
disease called " Spotted Fever" has been permitted 
to make such severe ravages in many towns of Massa- 
chusetts and Connecticut, particularly the orthodox 
city of Hartford. 

It would seem that the last mentioned disease waa 
not entirely unforeseen. A gentleman of Connecticut 
who ranks high as a scholar and poet, a number ol 
years before the disease appeared, wrote the follow* 
ing lines : i, 

*' Clouds of dark fire shall blot the sun's broad light,t: 
*' Spread round the expanse and shade the world in* 

" night; 
^' In every blast the spotted plague b« driven, 
Z'^' And angry meteors shoot athwart the heaveix" 

(k) Page 69. 
When the apostate Jvlian sank. 
The emperor Julian, commonly called " the apos.- 
latc," who, being wounded in battle, received some ol 
the blood that flowed from his wound into his liand, 
and throwing it toward heaven, exclaimed " Vici^i 
GaUiace:''^ 



TO CANTO THIRD. 135 

(Z) Page 15. 

Wisely before mankind tve dress 

2' lie face in garb of holiness ; 

The humble downcast look assume-^ 

Meet emblem of monastic gloom. 
As thcNew-Englanders are a go-lo-mceting peop!(t 
\i may perhaps afford them some satisfaction to quote, 
as a commentary on tlie above Hnes, a letter which 
appeared in the Eastern Argus, a paper printed at 
Portland. A correspondent, sa3-s the editor of that 
journal, in whom we place much confidence, has 
communicated to ns a singular circumstance thrft 
occurred on the Sabbath. 

The gentlemen of the convention all went to the 
same meeting, and appeared very solemn and devout. 
It appeared they did not altogether like our good 
biinister's prayer, but this might have passed ofl with- 
out any great expression of uneasiness, had it nqt 
been for the portion of scripture v/hich our parson had 
selected to read. It was the eighth chapter of Ezekiel, 
or Ezekiel's vision of jealousy, and the chambers of 
imagery ; in which chapter are some remarkable pas^- 
sages, (to this chapter we refer our readers.) While 
this portion of scripture was reading, there was a gen' 
tie agitation or buz through tlie house, and all eyes 
seemed turned on llie five and twenty aien, to whom 
the passage was so well adapted. 

When they came out of church, Harry said 

to Tim , this is a d — d quiz— I don't believe 

there is any such tiling ia the Bible ; ask some of the 



136 NOTES 

Connecticut members if this old man has not beer 

quizzing- us. In the afternoon, neither Harry 

nor Tim , nor the Rhode Island members, 

seemed inclined to go again to the meeting. 

But uncle G'corgc hearing this, took them aside and 
said, " Gentlemen, this must not be, you will spoil all 
if you stay at home, for you tvell know, that it was 
agreed to mix religion in this business, and the (Jon- 
necticut gentlemen would consider us as heathens. 
Besides, it is part of the definition of a New-Kngland 
man, that he is a go-to-meeting animal." They agreed 
to follow his prudent advice, but what was their aston- 
ishment, when the good parson read in the afternoon;, 
the fifteenth chapter of Samiiel. While the chapter 
was reading, some of the members of Massachusetts 
looked all manner of ways, and one of the prettiest oi 
them looked sick, and it was expected every minute 

he would go out, but he did not. Tim and he 

were observed to wdiisper together, and after scrvicet 
they walked arm in arm, with slow and solemn pac( 
towards their lodgings. What their feelings and 
ihoughts were, we could not divine ; doubtless they | 
were impressed with serious thoughts, suitable to the j 
occasion. Some may be surprised to hear us say that! 

Tim is a very serious and religious imn. He i 

once laid himself out to pieach, and actually wrote 
two ver}'^ extraordinary sermons, one on fi-ee will, the 
other on grace, which he submitted to the judgment 
of an old lady of his acquainlance ; but we have never 
learned that he wrote a third. 



I 



TO CANTO THIRD. 137 

(m) Page 76. 
Jlrtihou as thai turkey poor , 
IVhich, at Uz, by famine died. 
This is one of the many scripture traditions, current 
in New-England, serving to illustrate the extreme 
poverty to which the patient Job was reduced. To be 
as poor as Job's turkey, has passed into a proverb. 

To those miserable republicans, who are in a state 
little better than that of the fowl abovementioned, the 
invitations here held out must have been irresistible, 
had there been any kind of reason to expect the fulfiU 
meat of the promise. 

(w) Page 76. 
Stars and garters shall abound, 
Ribbons red and ribbons blue. 
The ribbon we understand to be one of me highesi 
marks of royal favor. To the future ^ijoility of New- 
England, the blue ribbon we believe would be pecu- 
liarly acceptable, such is the predilection of the peo- 
ple for that truly provincial color. Hence we have 
blue laws, blue stockings, blue lights, &c. Fortu- 
nately for the republic, we have also produced some 
true-blue seamen, but we do not consider any of our 
naval comnaanders as candidates for the blue ribbon- 



KND OF NOTES TO CANTO THIRD. 



G*- 



NOTES 



CANTO FOURTH- 



NOTES, 



NOTES TO CANTO FOURTH, 



(•a) Pag-e 79. 
H-^hy is the land of steady habits drest 
In all the sable pageantry of woe ? 
A laudable custom of fasting and prayer, on eeca' 
aions of public calamity, has for many years prevailed 
in Connecticut. During the time designated for fast- 
ing, no food is allowed to be taken, except ginger- 
bread and boiled eggs ; nor any drink except switchel 
and small beer. The frequency of these fasts, con^ 
duces much to the health and temperance of the inha- 
bitants, and it is generally supposed by physicians, 
that this custom contributes much to invigorate the un- 
derstanding, and give that species of cuteness for 
v/hich, as a people, we arc so remarkable. The insti* 
imtion of fast?, is also an exeeHent mc3n<i oivveren- 



142 NOTES 

tion, as well as removal of public calamities. Hence 
wheijOn the ratification of peace, the President order- 
ed a day of public thanksgiving, the national misfor- 
tunes that would otherwise necessarily have befallen 
us, were doubtless averted by our wise and pious state- 
legislature's appointing an immediate fast. 

(b) Page 80. 
Mourn, land of " steady habits,'''' mourn ' 
*' Steady habits" have long been the favorite boast 
of the good people of Connecticut. A southern gen- 
tleman, after tiavelling through that state, has in- 
formed the author, that, in some things, he found 
them the most regular set of beings he ever saw, and 
gave a number of instances. Among many others, 
he asserts that part of the Sabbath evening duty,|| 
among the women, was to prepare the washing-tubs- 
and foul linen of the family, for immediate operation 
on the ensuing morning ; that at Saturday suppers, 
the never-failing repast of baked beans Avas as regu- 
larly administered as the " hog and hominy" of NVrth 
Carolina ; and the " warm toddy" was as much ex- 
pected as the "mint sling" in Virginia. 

But the great characteristic of these people, is on 
insuperable obstinacy-, that, pushing on to its object, 
is equally regardless of force or reason, and as dead 



T© CANTO FOURTH. 143 

to the calls of justice, as deaf to conviction. The fol- 
lowing- lines from the Echo, page 298, b}- one of their 
own poets, in flaming eulogy, gave rise to the above 
T'eiiiarks : 

And here, in erring i-easo)i's, spite, 
'Mid storms of truth and floods of ligM, 
Unmov'd by threats, unawed by fears, 
Connecticut her front uprears ; 
On democratic frontiers plac'd. 
By spirits base and foul disgrac'd, 
Strait on her course she firmly steers, 
Nor gibes, nor tacks, nor scuds, nor veerS, 

(r) Page 83. 
For Pakenham no brighter meed 
Had the impartial fates decreed ? 
On his lone stone mustfoeman's ire 
Grave theft and murder, rape and f re? 

Lieutenant-General Sir Edward Pakenham, com- 
manding officer in the attack on New-Oileans, slain 
in a sally against th« American forces. To stimulate 
the avarice, lust, and barbarity of the English soldiery, 
he had promised, that on the capture of that city, 
three days should be allowed, for the purposes of 
rape and pillage. It is proposed to erect a monu- 



144 NOTES 

ment on the six)t where he fell ; and the following 
has appeared iu many of our gazettes as a suitable in- 
scription : 

At the head of 

Ten Thousand British Mercenaries, 

Altentipting to storm our City, filled with Property 

and 

CHASTE WOMEN, 

Here Fell 

SIR EDWARD PAKENHAM. 

Let Horror 

Inscribe on a Pillar of Adamant, to his 

Eternal Infamy, 

That, to inflame the Lust and Avarice of his 

Brutal Followers, 

He Proclaimed Three Days of 

PLU>'DER A>-D LICENTIOUSNESS, 

And gave as a Watchword for those three days, 

BEAUTY AA'-D BOOTY! 



At that time 

CASTLE REACH 

was 

Prime Minister of England, 

and 

GEORGE, 

30N OF GEORGE THE THIRD, 

was 
Prince Recent. 



TO CA]SrTO FOURTH, 141 

(d) Page 04 
Jls long an C'orh/mrn^s honored name 
Shall Juiure uxtrf/ar^ )-ou.\c to fame : 
A.'! long as t-'n I' to. ■-''.'■ :-ij, li :;li':!.l prove 
'Truth^sJ'airc. t jjkugc oj'c'yrmiian lore. 
General Proctor and Admiral Cochbuvn. parnobik 
fratrum. Proctor, the savage chief of a savag-e band, j^-a 
was the mun who encounu td Lis wiiite savages ta| 
hold the American prisoners while the red ones scalp- 
ed them He is said, also, to have practised the art 
himself, as an amusement, and to liave made a consi- 
di;ni!»'c proficiency in it. Admiral Cochburn, the 
couuierpart of the general, seems exactly similar ia 
habit and disposition. 

These are the men who gave a tone and character 
to that system of rape, and plunder, and burning, 
which, wherever it was possible, has been so uni- 
formly pursued by British troops. The author of the 
" Scottish Fiddle," has happily hit off the character of 
the incendiary Cochburn. We think what he asserts 
highly probalale, viz. that in his youth he was set in 
the stocks, whipt at the post, &c. At least any one 
who has heard any thing of him, will readily concei\ e 
he deserved it. 

Such were his childish feats, I ween, 
And e'er he sixteen years had seen, 
Five times in the stocks he'd been. 
At length, to be more bravely free, 
Ajid rob at large, lie went to sea'. 



146 NOTES 

Bold captain now of ship of war, 
He shovv'd, in triumph, many a scar; 
But, whether they at home were gol 

In midnight feats of yore. 
Or naval fight, yet, well I wot, 

Some curious marks he bore, 
That look'd, gramercy ! like the print 
Of lashes given widi heavy dint 
Of cat-o'ninc-tail, or rope's end. 
From whose dread smart me Heaven forefend; 

(e) Pa^e 85. 

But raging, in tlie furious f ray. 
His victiin's eye he bears away ; 
And stniliyrg, gives the trophy icon, 
A plaything to his infant son. 

The practice of gouging, biting ofl'noscs, ears,&c> 
is, as we are told, very common among the lower 
classes, in some of the Southern and Western States. 
Gouging, as we are informed by Dr. Morse, is perform- 
ed by fixing the point of the thumb in the corner of the 
antagonist's eye, and forcing it from its socket. Of 
this custom the pious citizens of New-England have 
tlie greatest abhorrence, and stories are told us that 
this practice is so common in some places, that not 
only eyeballs are given to children as playthings, but 
that they form a principal ornament in some houses, 
being strung on a thread, and suspended hke bird?' 
eg^s over the fireplace 



TO CANTO FOURTH. 147 

(/) Page 86. 
Ectn thai copper-colored crew 
IVho vnder Brown the cntlass drew, 
JVith insuU'rude, and jeer, and jibe, 
Attack'd the unoffending tribe, 
Raised o^er their heads the vengeful knife. 
And threatened them with loss of life. 
TVie delegates, on their way to Washing-ton, travel- 
led in company with several chiefs of the Six Nations 
of Indians, who had served under general Brown ; 
but as soon as the latter became acquainted with the 
object of their journey, they peremptorily refused to 
let them proceed farther in the same vehicle, so that 
the convention had to disembark itself, and wait until 
the next day for the means of transportation. 

On their arrival at Washington, they reported them- 
selves to the secretary of state, and requested an intro- 
duction, in their official capacity, to the president ; the 
honor of which Mr. Monroe declined, but signified 
his willingness to afford them an opportunity of see- 
ing the president as private citizens, to which the de- 
legates would not agree, and moved off— but returned 
again next day, to close with Mi*. Monroe's proposi- 
tion, and received for answer, that the secretary was 
too much engaged, but that Mr. Dallas was more at 
leisure, who accordingly introduced tlKim, divested of 
their official capacity — and the mighty deeds of the 
wisft men of the East resulted in their going home 
without even mentioning the subject for wltich they 
were (delegated. 



H8 NOTES 

(g-) Page^Q. 
Till, on the spot where Linganfellj 
And Hanson -raised the J'uneral yell — 
That seat ofjire, and mobs, and slaves., 
Of pestilence, and rage, and graves. 
Jit length was keen enquiry crost, 
Unknown theyjied — the path was lost. 
Baltimore, where General Lingan lost bis life- 
while the notorious Hanson escaped the furj, <j-' the 
storm himself had raised. It was here that the sages 
of the East were first missing, andnotwithstanfliii^; the 
numerous advertisements of their friendi^, no ii\t*^^lli- 
g-ence of them could be obtained, until we heard of the 
v/eeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth at Wash- 
ington. 

- (h) Page 88. 
TVhen Agag^s limbs, in pieces lieion. 
By Samvel to the ground icere throivn. 
See the first book of Samuel, chapter xv. verses 32 
'tnd 33. 

(i) Page 90. 
For cliildish deed and loildered head, 
IVe d^er onr king no tears hud shed, 
JVor had the jacktf siraighi been laced 
Around the good old sovereign's ivaisf. 
It is a melancholy fact, that for a long time past our 
beloved sovereign king George has labored under an 
evil spirit of insanity which has absolutely set at defi- 
HHi'e aU the efforts ©f the flov/er of the faculty. Ill 



TO CANTO FOURTH. 149 

this Instance, -vre have another sad proof that raoit ■ 
aiths are no more than men beyond the reach of mis- 
foriune, as the same power (hat saw fit to bereave the 
Hicmbers of the Hartford Convention of common siense,- 
visited also the proud monarch of England with the 
same calamit3% 

The partizans of British power in the United State^., 
have with fear and trembUng beheld this mournfu: 
spectacle of fallen greatness : a king hampered by aU 
the ingenious devices of surgery, manacled by ban- 
dages, or inundated with water, forced into a fever bn,- 
stimulants, or reduced to the last gasp by depletion, 
and 

a clout upon that head 

Where late the diodem stood. 

A London paper informs us, that at tlie late exhib-i 
lion of a sea-fight, on the Serpentine River, the Prince- 
Regent betrayed some symptoms of a similar indisp'T 
sition. 



(Je) Pa^e SO. 

J^'^o laurcat bard Ms praise io Jorge, 
JVo Bccket to apply the scourge. 

The appointment of a poet-laureat is well known 
to be similar to that of " king's fool" in former day S. 
Thoraas-a-Beckct was an important character. Jt 



150 



NOTES, he. 



was he who gave Edward the confessor a salutary 
flagellation. Had the rod which he used been kept 
and hung up ia the royal parlor at Windsor in terro- 
rcm, it would, ia all probability, have been of infinite 
servrctJ. 



THE Ei\T>. 



